


Runners at the Corners

by Destiny_Smasher



Category: Butterfly Soup (Visual Novel)
Genre: Asian-American Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, College, F/F, Gay, Post-Time Skip, Queer Character, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-08-24 18:41:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16645706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destiny_Smasher/pseuds/Destiny_Smasher
Summary: Jeez. She was twenty-one now. Twenty-one. University was almost over.This was the absolute worst time in her life for this kind of stuff to be happening, and she wasn't at all prepared for it.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Finally got around to playing this visual novel recently and it's immediately jumped right up there as one of my favorite narrative/indie games. Adore the characters too much to not spend more time with them, yet have so many other projects to juggle, so I'll be writing this off and on as a side project to relieve stress inbetween other stuff, and posting much smaller segments than my usual as they're finished.

 

 **[ Noelle ]**  
[ And what good do you expect ME to do? ]  
[ We're JUST barely at 'possibly enjoys one another's company on certain occasions.' ]  
[ And how long did that take? ]  
[ Obviously, I can't get through to her. Especially not right now. ]  
[ If anyone can, it's you. ]  
[ Why are you putting this off? ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ I tried already.. ]  
[ And um ]  
[ you saw how that went. ]  
[ I can't go through that again. ]  
[ -_- ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]  
** [ Seriously? ]  
[ That was WEEKS ago! ]  
[ You patched it back up. ]  
[ Like you always do. ]  
[ And besides, you better not be blaming yourself for HER actions. ]  
[ Swear to god. ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ I'm not. ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]**  
[ Good! ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ Maybe Akarsha could try? ]  
[ Talking with her. ]  
[ I mean ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]**  
[ Um ]  
[ No? ]  
[ That's like trying to clean an open wound with spicy mustard. ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ Gross. ]  
[ Messy. ]  
[ Smells weird. ]  
[ Makes it worse... ]  
[ But tastes...good? ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]**  
[ Exactly, yes. All of those things. ]  
[ EW, NO! Not the last one! ]  
[ What's wrong with you? ]  
[ You know, I still cannot believe you did that... ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ Did what? ]  
[ The bloody knee thing? ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]**  
[ Yes, the BLOODDY KNEE THING. ]  
[ You two were utterly disgusting! ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ You're not allowed to give me that. ]  
[ Not when your gf uses menses as a weapon. ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]**  
. . .   
[ OK, point taken, BUT! ]  
[ That was in self defense, ONE TIME, in HIGH SCHOOL. ]  
[ You're never going to let her live that down, are you? ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ Definitely not. ]  
[ You have? ]  
[ Still ranks as the grossest thing any of us has done. ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]**  
[ To each other. ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ haha ]  
[ To each other.. ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]**  
[ =_=; ]  
[ Speaking of which...can we get back on topic? ]  
[ You're trying to avoid it. Like always. ]  
[ This problem isn't going to just disappear. ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ Evanesco ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]  
** [ Excuse me? ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]  
** [ *waves wand* ] **  
  
[ Noelle ]  
** . . .   
[ Revelio! ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ lol took you a minute. ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]**  
[ Wiki is my friend. ]  
[ Now talk to me, Diya. What's holding you back? ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ Colloportus. ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]**  
[ OK, I know even you had to look that one up... ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ … ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]**  
[ UGH. ]  
[ Alohomura! ]  
[ There! ]  
[ Can we stop this and actually TALK? ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
. . .(typing) [ Confun- ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]**  
[ EXPELLIARMUS. ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]  
**. . . (deletes) **  
**[ Quick draw. ]  
[ I should've seen that one coming. ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]  
** [ What is with you? ]  
[ Why are you dodging the topic so fervently? ]  
[ You know that does NOT work on me. ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ Well. ]  
[ The topic is pointless and hopeless and I hate it and I can't do anything about it ]  
[ so ]  
[ Just forget it. ]  
[ :) ]  
[ OK? ]  
[ Don't even worry about it. ]  
[ I'm sorry I bothered you. ]  
[ It's my problem. ]  
[ Not yours. ]  
[ And you think only I can fix it. ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]  
** _Noelle is typing. . ._  
  
 **[ Diya ]  
** [ My mess to clean up. ] **  
**[ Won't bother you with it. ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]  
** [ We are here for you, but there's very little we can do with this particular situation! ]  
[ You're typing too fast!]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ Go back to studying ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]**  
[ I've studied plenty today. ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ And just forget about my problems. ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]**  
[ I can afford a block of time to help you process this. ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ Apparently no one else in the world but me can do anything about it. ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]**  
[ Are you even reading my responses? ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ Nothing will change unless I magically can do something I can't do. ]  
[ That's what you're saying. ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]  
** [ You CAN do this! ]  
[ You're being kind of infuriating today... ]  
[ Is that on purpose? ]  
  
 **[ Diya ]**  
[ I understand. ]  
[ I'm sorry I'm so useless ]  
  
 **[ Noelle ]**  
[ Whoa, whoa! ]  
[ NOT what I said! ]  
[ AT all! ]  
[ Misquotation, Madame! ]  
[ Don't do this to yourself, Diya. ]  
 _Noelle is typing. . ._  
  
[ **Logging off. . .** ]  
  
With an irate huff, Diya tore off her tattered old Nike cap, shoving it fiercely on the post of her bed before slamming her laptop shut. She slumped out of her desk chair and dropped herself face-down into her unmade covers. She groaned into her pillow, clenching shaking hands against the dense, feather-filled cushion.  
  
Eyes squinted shut, breath hindered, she sobbed, tears dripping into the lightning-bolt-laden pillowcase.  
  
Diya's evening routine that week had been lying in bed for 10 minutes thinking about how much she hated herself.  
  
She did it again.  
  
It hurt too much, not knowing what was going to happen, but knowing for sure that she'd be incapable of affecting its outcome. If it was a ball, a glove, a base, she could handle it without question, without conscious thought. Her body could handle just about anything?  
  
If it was a _person,_ though?  
If it was her _brain,_ her instable tangle of anxiety that had to be worked with?  
  
That was, well...a whole other ball game.  
She hated herself just a bit more for thinking the pun.  
  
- _rrrmmmm!_ -  
  
The vibration of her phone momentarily pulled her to the world, but she ignored it. Probably a wall of text from Noelle that she didn't have the strength to confront.  
  
Minutes passed as Diya quietly winced into her pillow, struggling to figure out any way this situation could turn out well without her having to do things she hated doing. Any way the events that _created_ this situation could've turned out better, if only she'd...acted. What options did they have at this point?  
  
- _rrrmmmm!_ -  
  
Stupid phone.  
 _(mmmnnnnrrrr...)  
  
_ - _rrrmmmm!_ -  
  
 _(RRGHHMMNNnnn...)_  
  
Her muscles tightened bitterly as the phone kept at it.  
  
- _rrrmmmm!_ -  
- _rrrmmmm!_ -  
  
“ _Rrrrr..._ ”  
  
Going as far as to utter a literal, audible growl into pillow helped Diya become self-aware of just how quickly her mood had turned. She'd really put too much stock into Noelle helping save the day, here. And why should she? Min wasn't Noelle's responsibility. They only tolerated each other for Diya's sake, anyway. Like she was worth all of _this._ And yes, Akarsha really got on well with Min, especially since that big blowup that happened back on Diya's birthday. Jeez. She was twenty-one now. Twenty- _one._ University was almost over. This was the _absolute worst_ time in her life for this kind of stuff to be happening, and she wasn't at all prepared for it.  
  
“Diya? Dude, are-...?”  
  
The door to her flat room had come swinging open – crap, she'd left it unlocked – and Akarsha's voice pierced through her self-wallowing mood. Well, like a butter knife piercing a loaf of bread, maybe, with Diya's hearing muffled in one ear by defect and by pillow in another.  
  
Diya flipped over in her bed, red-eyed with a grouchy look about her. Slouched on her elbow and hip, her good ear pointed at her door, she simply glared at Akarsha, wordless.  
  
“Uh...-” Akarsha awkwardly closed the door behind her, taking a few cautious steps in. “... _Yooo_ ,” she murmured sheepishly, hovering by the end of Diya's bed. “See you're...gettin' your Chrissy Teigen on...”

 

 


	2. Part 2

\---  
**Part 2**  
\---  
  
  
“Diya? Dude, are-...?”  
  
The door to her flat room had come swinging open – crap, she'd left it unlocked – and Akarsha's voice pierced through her self-wallowing mood. Well, like a butter knife piercing a loaf of bread, maybe, with Diya's hearing muffled in one ear by defect and by pillow in another.  
  
Diya flipped over in her bed, red-eyed with a grouchy look about her. Slouched on her elbow and hip, her good ear pointed at her door, she simply glared at Akarsha, wordless.  
  
“Uh...-” Akarsha awkwardly closed the door behind her, taking a few cautious steps in. “... _Yooo_ ,” she murmured sheepishly, hovering by the end of Diya's bed. “See you're...gettin' your Chrissy Teigen on...”  
  
  
“...What?” Diya grunted irritably, having no idea what stupid meme Akarsha was leaning on this time.  
  
Akarsha began clamping and unclamping her sweaty palms together until they started making 'poot' noises, a timid grimace about her the whole while.  
  
Diya groaned gently, shoving her disheveled hair back over her shoulders as she sat upright, her sneakers dangling off the end of her bed, with how tall she was.  
  
Akarsha took a couple more wary steps closer, rolling her eyes, her whole body kind of flowing with the gesture. “Sooooo... _yeaaaaa_...” she whispered, still avoiding Diya's dull dagger glance.  
  
Akarsha was dressed in a tacky windbreaker with 90's era Playstation logos on it. She had her hair down, an unusual sight, though Diya had noticed she'd been growing it out. Maybe for Noelle? Wasn't sure. Either way, Diya could never commit to that kind of thing. She'd hold out as long as she could but always ended up cutting it back down once it started getting irritating to manage.  
  
“Noelle send you?” Diya mumbled.  
  
Akarsha finally went to meet her gaze, but the split second this occurred, Diya's eyes dodged away to her paisley-flowered bed sheets.  
  
“Yep,” Akarsha replied. “Says you, like, bailed mid-convo on her? Somethin'...-?”  
  
Diya dragged her knuckles across her mattress and shoved her legs out and off the side. She rubbed at her dampened eyes groggily before letting her elbows settle on her knees, her cheeks sagging into her wrists.  
  
Akarsha observed bluntly, “ _Damn,_ gurl, this whole thing's got you _wrecked,_ huh?”  
  
With a slow, frustrated inhalation, Diya let her arms cross down over her knees and gave Akarsha a stoic, deadpan look, right in the eye.  
  
Akarsha's expression wavered uncertainly, and she shrunk back a bit, hands in her pockets.  
  
“Readin' the _room_ ,” she muttered nervously. “It's tellin' me you just wanna sit in your corner n' drown yourself in Vanilla Twilight.”  
  
“What do you want?” Diya quickly asked, her tone like a winter breeze.  
  
“Dude, look, I've been _giving_ you space all week, but, man...-” She shrugged with some exasperation. “Emo's a _bad_ look on you, D.”  
  
“It's in season,” Diya dryly quipped back, bobbing her head at the dusty floorboards beneath her.  
  
“What season is _that_?” Akarsha countered. “Order of the Phoenix?”  
  
“That-...What?...That's not even...-”  
  
“'Cuz he was so emo in that one.”  
  
“Stop.”  
“I'm just...sayin', h-”  
“No.”  
“'Kay.”  
“You going to stop?”  
“...Will it help?”  
“...I don't know.”  
  
Diya's voice wavered a little, there. She swallowed, and it stung a bit. A heavy pause followed. Not _too_ heavy. Like, water cooler jug heavy. Inconvenient. But manageable. If you put in some effort. Like, any. Too bad Diya wasn't in the mood for any effort.  
  
Akarsha dropped the humor at last.  
  
“She'll be out in, what, two weeks?”  
  
“Two and a half,” Diya corrected. Every single day made a difference.  
  
“Yea. That ain't bad. My old roommate was in for like, six _months._ Min got off easy, man.”  
  
“Was your cousin already struggling to get a degree in order to turn his life around?”  
  
“Uh...That a-...Is this...like, rhetorical, or...-?”  
  
“It's bullshit,” Diya winced, her nails digging into her palms a little, with how hard her hands clenched at the frustration of it all. “She needs _me._ She needs... _us._ Not solitary confinement.”  
  
“Uh, not to damper your whole, like, downer vibe and all that, but...it's county jail, it ain't like Arkham Asylum or some shit.”  
  
“It's wasted time, either way. Time she could be-...She could be improving. Getting better. She _was_ getting better.”  
  
“You gonna try telling your cousin that?”  
  
“He _knew_ how she'd react. He-...He knew.” She rubbed at her eyelashes, dust having dried up in them from her crying.  
  
“Family's an 'F word,' I guess,” Akarsha said with a tired shrug and a sigh. “Just 'cuz they finally flipped Prop 8 doesn't mean all the assholes go away...”  
  
Silence drifted along. The muffled sound of some acoustic guitar reverberated from the first floor of the flathouse. Akarsha leaned against Diya's bedpost, scooping up her old hat.  
  
“How bad'd she fuck him up, anyway?” she mused, running her thumb over the worn threads of the Nike logo. “Like, what level of beatdown was this, exactly? We talkin', like, Frieza on Vegeta? Or...-?”  
  
“This isn't _funny,_ ” Diya moaned lifelessly, ignorant to what she meant but knowing it had to do with freaking anime, in a conversation like _this._  
  
“N-...No, _yea,_ I know, I just...-”  
  
“She beat him badly _enough_ to press charges.”  
  
“Yea? Well.” Hanging Diya's hat back up, Akarsha softly and coolly mused, “Maybe he'll think twice before opening his fuckin' _mouth_...”  
  
“Maybe _she_ will just-...just do it _again_ the _next_ time some jerk goes and...-”  
  
Diya's chest swelled with fire, and a trembling, stifled laugh spilled out. Not a good laugh. Scared one. Before she knew it, she was sobbing again. All of the built up pressure from the past two weeks was really becoming a problem.  
  
Akarsha plopped down in the bed beside her, giving her back a rub with one palm.  
  
They sat like this for a couple minutes, until Diya's breathing calmed back down. Now her sleeves were all gross.  
  
“Why ain't you seen her lately?” Akarsha wondered, breaking the silence.  
  
“Scared,” Diya mumbled frankly.  
  
“Of what?”  
  
“Of the possibility that she _still_ hasn't learned anything from this...”  
  
“I mean...-” Akarsha let her thought hang in the awkward stillness for a sec. “Do I gotta _say_ it?”she eked out.  
  
“Say _what_?” Diya sighed tiredly.  
  
“You two've been together for _how_ long? And she ain't changed. I mean, _yea,_ she has, but not with _this_ shit.”  
  
“She _needs_ to.”  
  
“...I mean, the _legal_ system would totally agree with you. So, like...yea. But.”  
  
“ _But_ I'm getting... _tired_ of this, Akarsha.”  
  
“Yea. Mm. Mmkay. Sure. I feel you. Noelle and I, ya know, we get into it sometimes, bitches be bitches, and all that, but-”  
“Noelle doesn't _beat_ people with a _bat_ when she wants to steal their _popcorn._ Noelle doesn't _slam_ people into _lockers_ when they make fun of her. She doesn't constantly threaten... _death_ on _random strangers_ out in public. And Noelle _definitely_ doesn't...beat the _hell_ out of her in-laws at Thanksgiving...”  
  
“W-...'Kay, but like...don't you find that hot?”  
  
“ _What?_ ”  
  
“Your wife, all, like, puffin' up her chest, gettin' all like a mad chihuahua when her master's in trouble. I mean, you _married_ her, my dude, the hell'd you _think_ she was gonna do?”  
  
“I'm not _saying_ I'm even _thinking_ of...-”  
  
“For better and worse 'n all that shit.”  
  
“ _Yes._ ”  
  
“This seems like the exact kinda reason they have you say that stuff. Is all I'm sayin', D.”  
  
“ _OK._ You don't have to tell _me,_ I-...It was funny when we were _kids,_ but...-”  
  
“You're _really_ in a tizzy 'bout all this, huh?”  
  
“ _Obviously._ ”  
  
“Dude-dude-dude,” Akarsha spat, giving Diya a sideways hug. “'S OK, gurl. She's _got this._ 'Cuz of _you._ Right?”  
  
“...”  
Diya's stomach gurgled.  
  
“You got her here,” Akarsha pointed out. “You really think she'd have gone to _college_ on her own?”  
  
“...”  
Did Diya really think Min was going to _finish_ college? At _this_ rate? A year behind, as it was?  
  
“You're gonna get her through all _this_ mess, too.”  
  
“...”  
_(Mess. Real mess.)_  
_(His blood was all over her knuckles...)_  
  
Leaning in, Akarsha whispered, “Believe it.” She pounded Diya's back with the meat of her skinny hand. “Sure as mah _boi_ Naruto's gon' be Hokage some day, _you_ two're gonna get _through_ this shit. You know, _really,_ when you think about it, Min's more like Naru than I bet she'd like.”  
  
“...”  
Diya was tired. She was _so,_ so tired of being the one pulling.  
  
“They both got bigger barks than bites...”  
  
“...”  
Min had to push Diya out of her comfort zone, sure. Once in a while.  
  
“They both catch their enemies by surprise...”  
  
“...”  
A push, a shove here and there, it was different from...pulling.  
  
“ _That's_ 'cuz their enemies are all constantly _underestimating_ them.”  
  
“...”  
Constant pulling. And now it was more like dragging.  
  
“They're both outcasts. They're both angry as _fuuuuuuck_ but still got gushy soft sides.”  
  
“...”  
It wasn't dead weight, was it?  
  
“They're both _gayyyy_ for their childhood bff...Like, even straight down to the vows.”  
  
“...”  
Even if it was, it wouldn't always be.  
  
“They both have nine _tails_...”  
  
“...”  
Diya was big. Strong. She could handle the weight for a while longer.  
  
“They both create multiple copies of themselves to spin chakra into balls of death...”  
  
“...”  
A while longer. After that, though...  
  
“ _Damn,_ though, but what about you and Sasuke?”  
  
“Compare me to _him_ and I _will_ hit you.”  
  
“... _DANG,_ D, pull outcha _SHARINGAN_ on me like that...”

 

 

 


	3. Part 3

\---  
 **Part 3**  
\---  
  
Min's hands were shaking. She hadn't realized it until she tried to pick up the phone to her right. But _fuck_ were they shaking like hell. She nearly fumbled the phone trying to get it to her ear, 'cuz her eyes were transfixed across the glass in front of her.  
  
Diya's expression was dull. Cold.  
Disappointed? Shit.  
Min _knew_ that look in her wife's eyes.  
Disappointed.  
Also tired.  
  
That worried Min a little. Yea. Wouldn't admit that. Couldn't, but...-  
  
“Hey,” she mumbled into the phone, putting on her best attempt at a smile.  
  
[ “...Hi.” ]  
  
 _(Ffffuck her VOICE it's so good to hear her VOICE)  
  
_ “'S uh...been a minute.”  
  
[ “I've been busy.” ]  
  
“Yea? With, er, with what?”  
  
[ “...” ]  
  
“Like, school stuff?”  
  
[ “Yea.” ]  
  
 _(Shittttt why is she being like that??? What do I say?)  
  
_ “Cool. School'll...keep ya busy.”  
  
 _(Nailed it??)  
  
_ [ “Not if you're _here_ instead of _there_...” ]  
  
 _(FUCK)  
  
_ “Eh, get to look forward to that soon. Got another week left, n' then-”  
[ “Eight days.” ]  
“Uh...Yea. Eight days left, then we get back to it.”  
  
[ “...” ]  
  
 _(Give her the_ _ **look**_ _)_  
  
“ _All_ of it...”  
Min wiggled her brows up and down with her eyelids halfway.  
  
[ “...Some of it,” ] Diya corrected, her eyes doing this, like, little hop they did when she was impatient.  
 _(Damnit!!)  
  
_ “Some of it?”  
 _(What does that mean what is she saying??)  
  
_ [ “Vargas might not let you play this season.” ]  
  
“ _What?!_ That bitch! Why would-?”  
[ “Stop.” ]  
  
 _(…!!)  
  
_ [ “I-...I don't want to get into this right now.” ]  
  
“The hell'd you bring it _up_ for, then?” Min hissed into her phone with a baffled tone.  
  
[ “To get you thinking.” ]  
  
“Diya, that's all they've _let_ me do in here.”  
  
Diya finally moved, the first time in the convo. She put her elbow up on the booth and slumped her gorgeous fucking face into her majestic hand. Her god-like fingers drummed over her amazingly soft cheek DAMNIT she was inches in front of Min and Min couldn't touch her! TORTURE.  
  
[ “...Why are you in here?” ] Diya asked.  
  
 _(TRICK QUESTION?? What??)  
  
_ “ _Erh...-?_ 'Cuz yer...cousin's a pussy?”  
  
Diya's eyes narrowed.  
  
 _(SHIT! up your shut fuck Min she hates when you use that word like that DAMMIT)  
  
_ “I-I mean, he's...a real dick, and...-”  
  
Diya's already narrowed eyes slid sideways, away from Min's.  
  
 _(FUCK THAT MADE IT WORSE)  
  
_ “A-And he said shit about you he shouldn't have!”  
  
Diya's mouth was pouting a bit now. _IT WAS CUTE_ but the reasons for it _WERE NOT GOOD.  
  
_ “ _Erh...-?_ ”  
  
 _(That's it! That's why I'm here! What else do I say why's she STARING at me like that FUCK doesn't she KNOW what it does to me when she STARES like that??)  
  
_ [ “...What's the _real_ reason you're here?” ] Diya asked quietly, with that super calm voice but those _eyes,_ man. _Damn,_ she was pissed. Most people wouldn't know but Min sure as shit could tell.  
  
“Wh-? I don't-...” Min shrugged her shoulders up wildly, scratching an itch on her scalp as she struggled to figure this riddle out.  
  
 _(why's she being like this ? ?)  
  
_ “I _hit_ him,” Min conceded. “That what yer gettin' at?”  
  
Diya's lips got all tight. Fuck. Still not good.  
  
“Right? 'Cuz I...kicked his ass? Even though that's _actually_ maybe a good thing 'cuz he _deserved_ it, and-”  
[ “ _Stop_!” ] Diya hissed into the phone. Her face was all flashy with panic for a sec. [ “Don't... _say_ stuff like that! Especially not...-” ] She bobbed her head over to the guard at the door.  
  
 _(k. so done with this. why.)_  
  
“Man, _look_ ,” Min sighed, clawing her fingers through her hair. “You are being _weird._ I don't _get_ you right now.”  
  
[ “I haven't gotten _you_ all _year._ ” ]  
  
“...What's not to _get?_ ”  
  
[ “My family bailed you _out_ last time. And then you do _this?_ ” ]  
  
“Your family is good people. Your _cousin_ isn't.”  
  
[ “That doesn't _matter._ And yes, he _is_ an-...an asshole, I _know_ that, _he_ knows that, _everyone_ knows that. But you can't just...keep _hitting_ people for being jerks. That's not-...This isn't going to _work_ if you keep...-” ]  
  
“I did it for _you_ , though.”  
 _(Boom. Explained. Why she making this so complicated? It's that simple.)_  
  
[ “I-I _know_ you did it f-...” ] Diya squinted her eyes shut, rubbing her fingers at them. [ “I don't _want_ you doing stuff like that for me. I don't want you doing stuff like that _at all._ ” ]  
  
“What about if a mugger tries to stick you up?”  
  
[ “O-OK, sure, I mean, I... _guess_.” ]  
  
“What about if some homophobe fuckface tries to stick you up?”  
[ “I mean, that's not what I...-” ]  
“What about if your cousin touches a single hair on your head again?”  
[ “You're not _getting_ it...” ]  
“No, _you're_ not getting it.”  
  
Diya shook her head bitterly, setting the phone thing down on the table.  
  
 _(howwww is she not getting it?? it's not?? hard??)  
  
_ “Hey,” Min called into the phone. Diya was being all quiet on her. Min was the one person Diya wasn't supposed to do that to...  
  
Diya was taking a sec to breathe. Aw, shit. Min could see it, she was starting to have one of those panic things maybe?  
  
“Babe?” Min said. Had been saving the petname shit for when she needed it. “Yo, you OK?”  
  
Diya was starting to cry. Shit fuck ass turd damn.  
  
 _(I tried!! I'm trying!! Why are you so weird about this?? What do I do or say or think or WHAT to make you feel better here??!!)  
  
_ “Babe, I-...I'm sorry, I don't-...I say something stupid?”  
  
Diya was wiping tears from her cheeks, rubbing her nose into her sleeve, but she picked the phone back up.  
  
“Just trying to protect you...” Min mumbled with a timid shrug, shrinking into her seat. “Damn, _I_ don't know what you want me to say.”  
  
[ “I-...I _want_ you to say what's in your heart, what's-...” ]  
  
“You _just_ told me to _not_ do that a minute ago.”  
  
[ “It's the violence I'm worried about.” ]  
  
 _(the helllll does that mean?)  
  
_ “...What, like...hitting people?”  
  
[ “ _Yes._ Obviously?” ]  
  
“I'd never hit _you_. You _know_ that. Right?”  
  
 _(she knows that?? RIGHT? Has to know that...!!)  
  
_ Diya nodded, sighing shakily.  
  
[ “I _know_ that.” ]  
  
 _(thank fuck, she knows that.)  
  
_ [ “That's not the problem.” ]  
  
“Then...-?”  
  
[ “Honestly? I'd-...” ] Her eyes did that _thing._ Where she looked all sideways when she was thinking something but got all scared about saying it.  
  
“You'd what?” Min pressed.  
  
Diya looked back at her.  
  
[ “I'd rather get _hit_ by you than...-” ] She gestured a trembling hand around the visitor room they were in. She shook her head a little, blinking a lot, and dropped her hand.  
  
“...What?”  
  
[ “I'm _tired_ , Min.” ] She sunk half her precious, glorious face into her hand. She looked...so _sad._ And _hurt._ Like she _had_ been hit. Really, really hard. Like Min had been the one hitting her.  
  
Felt bad. Really bad. Worst feeling.  
  
[ “I love you. I do. And-” ]  
“Love you, too,” Min eagerly spat out.  
[ “And I _want_ us to have a _future_ together.”]  
“Yea. _Yea._ Also, I want that.”  
[ “OK, that's... _good,_ but... _this?_ ” ]  
  
Again, waving the hand around the room. What, the visitor's room?  
  
[ “This isn't a future.” ]  
  
“This is over in a we-...in eight days.”  
  
[ “And?” ]  
  
“Aaaand...then we get back to things?”  
  
[ “Until?” ]  
  
“...Until we graduate?”  
  
[ “Which... _should_ have been this spring.” ]  
  
“It still _is?_ ”  
  
[ “The _rest_ of us are graduating. Not you.” ]  
  
Min shrugged.  
  
“Well, _OK,_ but...does it _matter_ if...-?”  
  
[ “If it comes to it, no, it-...it doesn't. If you fail, if you drop out, if you _quit,_ we're still in this.” ]  
  
“R-right. Yea. Soooo...-”  
  
[ “It's like...I'm on third base, and you're-” ]  
“Hell _yea_ you're on third base.”  
  
Diya smirked and giggled. Just a little. But it was everything.  
  
[“...And you're _supposed_ to be on second base. But you're on first.” ]  
  
“How come?”  
  
[ “That's...-” ]  
  
“You steal a base while I wasn't looking?”  
  
[ “I-I mean...-” ]  
  
“If the batter gets a home run, we're all good.”  
  
[ “You're missing...-” ]  
  
“ _Ohhhh,_ this is one of those, like-...Where it stands for something-”  
[ “Metaphor.” ]  
“-else, and I'm supposed to think-”  
[ “M-Maybe allegory?” ]  
“-about what it...-”  
  
They both paused.  
  
[ “Forget it,” ] Diya said after a weird second. [ “Nevermind.” ] She looked real bummed.  
  
“ _Noooo,_ no, no,” Min whimpered a little. Like, the only time Min would ever make this kinda noise was when Diya got all down on herself and it _felt_ like it was Min's fault, even if she didn't get it. “ _I_ mind. Maybe I don't mind the _best,_ but...-”  
  
[ “You can't keep doing this.” ]  
  
“...Minding?”  
  
[ “Breaking the _law_.” ]  
  
 _(smolder!!)_  
  
“What can I say, Babe?” Min leaned back in her chair. “Rules were made to be-” She nearly fell over.  
  
[ “That's literally the opposite of what rules were made for.” ]  
  
Diya wasn't playing.  
  
Scrambling to sit back up, Min spat, “ _Right,_ I was just...-”  
  
[ “You're a massive dork and I _love_ you for that, but...this is all catching up to us.” ]  
  
“ _Dork?_ Kick me while I'm _down,_ huh?”  
  
Diya smiled wryly, her eyes still dull but warm instead of cold. Just for a moment.  
  
[ “Dork.” ]  
  
Min pointed at her own chest.  
  
“Would a _dork_ look as good I do?”  
  
[ “They would. If they were you. And you still look good somehow, even in a jumpsuit, _but_.” ]  
  
“...Always a but. The most beautiful butt.”  
  
Diya's eyes glinted with that certain sneaky spark Min had been missing.  
  
[ “ _Butt_...I need you to promise me something.” ]  
  
“I promised you my _life,_ Babe, what else you got?”  
  
[ “You're going to go to counseling when you get out.” ]  
  
 _(…???!!! ?? .. ?? . ? ! .. ! . ?)  
  
_ “Erh...-”  
  
Min could _feel_ her whole face get all wrinkly and grouchy just trying to _think_ about this.  
  
[ “Promise me. Please.” ]  
  
“...Y-Yea, sure.”  
  
[ “You _promise_?” ]  
  
“...Mm.” Min shrugged.  
  
[ “You need to say the words.” ]  
  
“'The words.'”  
  
Diya's expression went flat, but Min could tell she wanted to laugh a little. Min was holding back a stupid smile, but barely.  
  
[ “Please.” ]  
  
 _(Can't deny that face.)  
  
_ Min sucked in a deep breath, rolled her eyes for some dramatic effect, swiveled her head around.  
  
“OK, _OK,_ I promise.”  
  
[ “...” ]  
  
“To the counseling shit, I mean.”  
  
[ “...” ]  
  
“I'll do it.”  
  
[ “...OK.” ]  
  
Diya's eyes softened a little, and Min could see her chest sink as a big, held-in breath came out.  
  
[ “I just need to know you're going to keep trying.” ]  
  
“Gotten _this_ far...”  
  
[ “I know. And-...And I'm proud of you, I just-...Then stuff like _this_ happens, again, and again, and...-” ]  
  
“First time I've been in _jail,_ ” Min pointed out.  
  
Diya sighed, her fingertips sliding over an eyebrow.  
  
 _(god DAMNNNNNit what did I say now?? How do I keep fucking this up?)  
  
_ [ “Yea. It _is_ the first time, but it _definitely_ could've happened earlier. We've been lucky.” ]  
  
“That's 'cuz I'm good luck.”  
  
[ “I don't think that's it.” ]  
  
“'Cuz... _you're_ good luck?”  
  
[ “Um...” ]  
  
“'Stay outta jail.' That's the point you're getting at. Right?”  
  
[ “S-Sort of...” ]  
  
Diya was distracted by something. Oh. Stupid guard was bothering her. Couldn't hear what he said, but Min knew. Time was up.  
  
[ “I-...I have to go.” ]  
  
“Yea.”  
  
And there it was, that really awkward second. Dragged on. Depressing second. Min got that tight feeling in her chest, it'd trick her for a bit into thinking she'd stop breathing. Without Diya, what even was the point in her breathing?  
  
[ “I lo-” ]  
“Love you, Baby.”  
[ “I'm not your 'baby.'” ]  
“Princess.”  
[ “No.” ]  
“Diya.”  
[ “Min-Seo.” ]  
  
That _glow,_ man. That fucking glow. And it was gone just as fast.  
  
Min had memorized it. So she said it.  
  
“நான் உன்னை நேசிக்கிறேன்.”  
  
Diya smiled, her cheeks still glowing just a little. She paused, her eyes wandered, and she replied.  
  
[ “저도 사랑합니다.” ]  
Oh, _formal_ version, even!  
  
 _(fffUUUCKkkk so cute HOW??)  
  
_ Grinning bashfully like the schoolkids they were when they met, they waved good-bye.  
  
And then Diya was taken away.  
And Min was taken away.  
  
Eight more days...

 


	4. Part 4

\---  
**Part 4**   
\---  
  
{ H gh Vull gc }  
  
The jacket had gotten pretty worn out over the years.  
It had  _used_ to read  
{ High Voltage }  
  
Noelle could still remember a time when the sight of the garish coat would send a shiver of discomfort down her back.  
  
But now, in all its tattered glory, Min's old jacket was slung across Diya's shoulder. The poor woman was unquestionably too bulky a being to  _wear_ it, else she likely would. It was cute. Much as Noelle might be loathe to admit it.  
  
A bitter wind swept over the field, swaying Noelle's massive ponytail around. She still braided it from time to time, but Akarsha had managed to get her to 'loosen up' a little.  _('Why bother with all that hair if you ain't gonna flaunt it?')_ Something along those lines. It was Akarsha's way of complimenting Noelle's long cared for locks.   
  
_('Your best feature,')_ she'd said once.  
  
_('And what of my beautiful_ _**mind** _ _?')  _ Noelle had retorted playfully.  
  
_ ('Eh. That's, like...maybe fourth?')  
  
( _ _**'Fourth?!'** _ _ )  
_   
That woman...   
  
Pushing her coat's collar up against her neck and clutching her umbrella with care, Noelle made her way up the empty bleachers. They were dry, but based on the cloud cover and the weather report, they wouldn't stay that way for long. The field was empty. It always left Noelle in a state of awe to see it. To ponder how a place that would be so full of energy and activity was, most of the time, desolate and vacuous.  
  
As Noelle drew close to Diya, perched up on a high bleacher, she could see that Diya's expression was  _itself_ vacuous: craving that energy, that fullness, which this field often provided.  
  
Wordless, Noelle took her seat at Diya's left side, naturally – the 'good ear' side. She leaned her umbrella up against the ridged metal seat, folding her hands in her lap. She took a slow, calm inhalation, soaking in that rainy-season air. They needed the rain, but then that was a near-constant.  
  
Noelle gave Diya a sideways glance. The woman wasn't wearing her hat, and her hair wasn't even in a tie at all. It was shorter than when Noelle had seen her the day prior. Surely, she'd gone and cut it again.  
  
Noelle had been pondering how to begin. What to say. She'd been unsurprised that Diya had wanted to meet, on this eve of Min's release, though meeting at the college's baseball diamond seemed a bit morose, given the weather. And besides, they pair had nothing of dire, pressing consequence to speak of, really. The past week had been quite a blur, despite it being winter break. New Year's was just a few days away. A fitting time for Min to be freed. A fresh start. Hopefully.  
  
“Um...-” Noelle cleared her throat. “Akarsha's having a-”  
_**-CLANG!-** _ **  
** “- _ eeep! _ ” Noelle flinched, flailing her arms to her left, where the sound had rattled from.  
  
Her umbrella had slid down, its handle banging against the bleacher.  
  
Diya chuckled softly, amused at Noelle's flash of fright. Fussing the umbrella flat against the metal sheet they sat upon, Noelle crossed her arms and sighed pleasantly.  
  
“Sorry.”  
  
“It's fine. You were saying?”  
  
Noelle swallowed, her throat getting dry as the season changed.  
  
“Akarsha is having a party for New Year's, and wanted to make sure you knew that you and Min are invited.”  
  
“Mm.” Diya nodded simply, staring off into space.  
  
“I'm  _ sure  _ she texted you about it already but I just wanted to be formal about it. She's not upset with you. No ill will of any sort is being held onto.”  
  
“...But I yelled at her,” Diya stated with a wistful, glazed over look.  
  
“W-well,  _ yes,  _ I suppose by-...by  _ your  _ standards, perhaps. It was  _ not  _ a big deal, all things considered.”  
  
“I don't-...” Diya rubbed dust from her eye. Noelle noticed one of her long eyelashes was stuck to her cheek. “I don't know what happened,” Diya lamented in that slow, cold, dulled way she did. In Diya speak it was sort of her way of saying, 'emotions are hard, how do speak?'  
  
“You've been dealing with a  _ lot _ ,” Noelle pointed out, wedging her chin into the fold of her hand. “Akarsha's timing was simply...in-fortuitous.”  
  
“I'm sorry...” Diya's words felt like a rustle of leaves from a sidewalk across the street.  
  
Noelle lowered her hand, then slid it up and under Min's jacket, which was still draped over Diya's shoulder like a poncho. She scratched her nails against Diya's shoulder-blade in a slow, rhythmic motion.  
  
“It's fine, Diya,” Noelle assured as gently as she could. Truthfully, it had  _ not  _ been fine at the time. After Diya's visit with Min the week prior, she'd practically walled herself off from everyone once again. Akarsha, living in the same flat house, had attempted to surprise her with a movie date –  _ which,  _ for the record, Noelle had attempted to explain was  _ not  _ a good idea at the time. But...Akarsha was Akarsha. No use convincing her out of an idea once she was set on it. At least  _ this  _ one hadn't been breaking any rules, yes?  
  
In either case, Diya had not taken well to it, as anticipated. Yet in a strange turn, she'd reportedly had a bit of a blow-up at Akarsha. Not really  _ that  _ bad, from what Akarsha had relayed, but Noelle knew better. Being blunt, open, expressive about her emotions, that was  _ not  _ an easy thing for Diya. And she'd been forced into a position of doing it so much as of late that it was surely wearing her out. Akarsha had meant well, of course. She'd been trying to rely less on humor and more on gestures that semester, at Noelle's request.   
  
Noelle was proud, really. Her girlfriend – and it was  _ still  _ a little strange to use that word to describe it, after all of the time they'd spend dancing around that phrase – had pleasantly surprised Noelle with an oyster omelet for breakfast in bed. Not even for a special occasion, unless prepping for final exams counted. Akarsha had stressed that it did  _ not  _ count, and was simply a coincidence, how did  _ she  _ know exactly when final exams began? Noelle pressed that her  _ not  _ knowing when finals began was cause for concern, to which Akarsha had insisted that if one was 'just that good', then an exam could occur at any time with no incident. Noelle retorted by-...  
  
Ah. Well, yes, it had turned into one of  _ those.  _ Which Noelle had come to rather enjoy, in actuality. Not that she'd admit this, mind, but Akarsha knew. Perhaps that made it more special, in a way, since they actually happened less frequently as of late.  
  
Regardless, the fact that Akarsha planned, prepared, and even  _ cooked  _ Noelle's favorite dish – never mind how she'd found  _ out  _ about it  _ being  _ her favorite dish – had certainly done its job in leaving a thoroughly positive impression, accenting a whole semester of small gestures between the pair. Noelle had been so concerned with keeping her grades up  _ while  _ micro-managing Diya's disheveled state, keeping her girlfriend above water with all of  _ her  _ responsibilities,  _ and  _ sparing time to visit Min-Seo (and likewise research what options they had regarding completing a college degree),  _ and  _ practicing piano,  _ and  _ giving Jun an ear to vent to regarding all of  _ his  _ recent issues, because his sibling was certainly incapable of that role in their current situation,  _ and-...erh...-  
  
_ It was all a lot to be staying on top of, suffice it to say.  
  
And Noelle was the responsible one of the lot of them. She'd carry them as best she could. It hadn't been too much, really. She was handling it fine. It just left little room for literally anyone else in her life those days. Which wasn't bad, really. Preferable, even. Probably. Certainly so far as her parents were concerned...  
  
Having spent an unmeasured period of time dwelling on these thoughts, all the while soothing Diya with backscratching, Noelle was taken aback when her best friend was suddenly leaning her weight against Noelle's less-than-capable shoulder. She'd set her chin right on top of Noelle's head, had wormed her arm around Noelle's back, latching onto her opposing bicep – a scrawny thing.  
  
The, erh, pressure of Diya's form pressed against Noelle's back caused an eerie, familiar, odd sensation that made Noelle altogether warm and uncomfortable at once, though she could quickly brush off the latter. Diya was often ignorant as to the, erm, after effects of her physical...traits...on those around her. What Noelle had attributed for the  _ longest  _ time to mere endorphins from intimate human contact with Diya had eventually become self-evident as attraction. There came a certain point when Noelle had to accept this about herself, and move on past it. That certain point was specific, as well – right after another instance of Noelle fervently watching Diya open her water bottle for her, Akarsha had slyly snuck in some inappropriate remark over her shoulder as the pair had watched Diya head off to class. Noelle had forgotten the exact question, because Akarsha's observation had been so embarrassingly accurate that it had rushed an inordinate amount of blood to Noelle's face. She'd denied it outright, naturally, only to confess months later when Akarsha had brought it up again during a group swimming session.  
  
It was unorthodox, but in a way, Akarsha's pushing and prodding over time about Noelle's 'pent up sexual frustration from being bff's with a 10-out-of-10' had, quite possibly, been the ember Akarsha had fanned into the flames that resulted in... _ them.  _ Akarsha's teasing over the matter had ultimately resulted in Noelle accepting, despite all probability, logic, or sense, that she was, in fact, homosexual. And once  _ that  _ gate had been cleared, Akarsha had wasted  _ zero  _ time in making her own intents and desires about Noelle known. All of the banter, the teasing, the double-entendres, every detail and question and curiosity about their interactions had come  _ crashing  _ down upon Noelle like a proverbial sack of bricks.  
  
Over the course of her friendship with Akarsha in high school, Noelle had been, as the colloquialism is phrased, thoroughly swept off her feet – without even consciously realizing it, to boot.  
  
She'd felt utterly  _ stupid  _ for quite some time thereafter. A long talk – followed by many smaller talks – with Diya about the matter had helped solidify these vague, confusing questions into concrete, definable statements.  
  
And in Noelle's world, being able to parse the multitude of complex, incoherent moments across her adolescence into a phrase as simple and short as  _ ' _ _ I am a lesbian' _ had changed a  _ great _ many things.  
  
One thing it had  _ not  _ changed at all, however, was how much Noelle cared about Diya. How much she cared about Akarsha, and about Min-Seo. How protective she felt over them. They were the kinds of silly women who asked their girlfriends out by  _ breaking a table  _ at a froyo shop and  _ completely embarrassing them  _ in front of a Gamestop employee (a traumatizing event that now endeared Noelle to every GameStop stop Akarsha dragged her into, which she hated and loved at once).   
  
Regardless of physical traits, of minced words and frustrating incompatibilities of character, Noelle loved her circle. Her square? Her  _ shape  _ of connected human beings. She loved them, they loved each other, they loved her, and nothing was going to prevent them all from finding joy in this gradually disintegrating prospect of adulthood happiness.  
  
Nothing except themselves, perhaps.  
  
Which brought Noelle to the whole current state of affairs.  
  
Diya's arms had found their way entirely around Noelle, trapping her in an encapsulating hug, with Diya's chin nestled against the top of Noelle's head.  
  
Here Noelle was, fumbling through memories and contemplation, her own way of coping with recent events, when Diya was in need of her presence.  
  
“I'm sorry,” Diya whispered softly, the humming of her throat shooting up sound-waves humming against Noelle's skull. “I've been...a real butt lately.”  
  
She could only  _ imagine  _ what Min or Akarsha would reply with. But Noelle had more dignity than that. Even if their influence had planted uncouth concepts in her mind, Noelle would  _ not  _ recite them.  
  
“You've been in a position you never have been,” Noelle raised. A brief pause enabled the phantom of Akarsha's voice to plant another lewd remark into Noelle's cranium, which she deftly skipped across. “I assure you, Akarsha is fine. She understands what you're going through. Remember Freshman year?”  
  
“That was different. That was your parents' fault. Not yours.”  
Noelle had been shoved into a different, 'better' college, and Noelle had not at the time had the courage to act against the idea. She'd spent Freshman Year apart from the others, and had quickly amended that in the summer, fiercely opposed to her parents' position.  
  
“True, that was a different situation,” Noelle admitted, “But...the separation was still arduous for us both, all the same. Akarsha did and said things she...regrets.”  
  
“Not to me...”  
  
“Well, likely not, but she still has some semblance of empathy for your current situation. That's all I'm trying to convey.”  
  
“Mm...”  
  
Noelle couldn't see it, but she  _ knew  _ what Diya's face was doing: glancing off uncertainly to one side.  
  
“In either case, you both will have the opportunity to sort it out soon enough. I've advised her to continue giving you space for the remainder of the week, but I  _ do  _ hope you consider her offer.”  
  
“I'll come.”  
  
Well,  _ that  _ had been simple. Naturally. What had Noelle been worrying about? This was Diya. Depressed and stressed as she was, when it came to this kind of thing, moving past it was simpler with her than anyone. She was, in some ways, perhaps  _ too  _ easy with such matters, too willing to let things go. Arguably, this was how she and Min had ended up in their current predicament. What motivation did Min-Seo have to adjust their behavior if the core  _ source  _ of motivation in their life was always, without fail, passing up on doling out any kind of consequential discipline?  
  
But Akarsha was more flexible a being than Min. And Noelle was more assertive in this regard than Diya.  
  
“I know this has all taken a lot out of you,” Noelle assured, drumming her fingernails against Diya's wrists. Her nose was pricked by something intangible. “I'll refrain from giving you the same sermon I've preached about the subject before. You aren't  _ me.  _ I'm aware of how difficult this all is for you. But I hope you  _ do  _ at least understand by now how  _ necessary  _ it is, at times. Communication is of the utmost, regardless of the parties involved.”  
  
“...”  
  
“You're doing  _ well _ , Diya. Given the circumstances, I'm rather proud, to be frank.”  
  
“...Thanks. I think.”  
  
“It's a complex path to tread, I know. You don't want your wife to change who they are.”  
  
“ _ Mm _ -mm,” Diya hummed.  
  
“Yet you know they can't continue acting as they...so often  _ do _ .”  
  
A few more tiny, almost unnoticeable  _ things _ touched tickled Noelle's face. Not rain so much as...a very light misting?  
  
“...” A withered sigh from Diya.  
  
“You're making a wonderful effort at walking that line, my friend. Based on my most recent contact with Min, I truly do believe you've gotten through to them. Gotten them to  _ think. _ ”  
  
“...Her.”  
  
“Pardon?”  
  
“We're back to 'her' again.”  
  
“O-Oh, I see.” Noelle tapped her thumbs against Diya's palms thoughtfully. “Apologies. That was...a  _ fast  _ turnaround this time. Min hadn't...mentioned that to me.”  
  
“It's OK. She doesn't like talking about that stuff.”  
  
“Understandable,” Noelle puffed out, wide-eyed. She was  _ still  _ wrapping herself around all of these concerns over sexuality, years after the fact. She couldn't even begin to comprehend navigating the even murkier waters of gender. “Well. Duly noted. In all fairness, I doubt I would, either.”  
  
“It  _ did  _ take you a long time to come out...”  
  
“...It certainly did.”  
  
_ ('What are you  _ _**saying?** _ _ ')  
('It's a phase.')  
('Those girls you hang out with are brainwashing you.')  
('You do not suddenly become special.')  
('You have to  _ _**work** _ _ to become something special.')  
('You think this will make you fit in? It will make your life  _ _**harder.** _ _ ')  
('You're not allowed to see them anymore.')  
('They're turning our daughter into something she is not.')  
  
(Maybe I never really  _ _**was** _ _ your daughter.) _   
  
Those tiny, seemingly insignificant droplets of mist were combining together into decidedly noticeable raindrops. It was time to take out the umbrella. This caused Diya to flinch a bit, but Noelle was able to imply through her body language that their contact was pleasant and mutually encouraging, she simply needed to protect them from the rain while they enjoyed this conversation.  
  
“Aren't you cold?” Noelle surmised, noting Diya's lack of proper outerwear. A hoodie and a jacket for someone half her size couldn't have been sufficient...  
  
“Mm~mm,” Diya shrugged, resnuggling herself against her friend. “Anyway. Akarsha said you...had Thanksgiving with  _ her  _ family?”  
  
“Oh, erm-...Yes.”  
  
“...”  
  
Diya swallowed, the vibration rolling down her throat and down the back of Noelle's head.  
  
Raindrops began to softly patter against the umbrella above them. It was relaxing.  
  
“It was nice,” Noelle followed up, at last letting herself lean back into Diya's golem-goddess hybrid form. She held the umbrella up steadfast, despite a bit of a wind attempting to wrest it from her. “It was awkward, at times, I'd conced. But nice. I think her parents approve of me. Which is a far cry from...-” Noelle trailed off. This was  _not_ going to become another talk about  _them._ Noelle had already put Diya through enough of  _that_ topic. “Well. Regardless, Christmas was...a much more difficult situation.”  
  
“How did you even survive?” Diya teased.  
  
“ _Silently_ ,” Noelle said bitterly. “But let's not fuss over  _that_ , how was your... _erm..._ -?”  
  
“ கீதா ஜயந்தி .”  
  
“Y-Yes, that...” Noelle felt herself smiling stupidly in spite of her ignorance. She still didn't know exactly what it was or how to pronounce it, but based on what she knew, the holiday sounded as exciting as her family reading the Bible, out loud, for an entire day.  
  
Diya burst out a chuckle, the wave of its force washing against Noelle's back like a gentle wave against a shore of pebbles.  
  
“It's definitely no Christmas,” Diya murmured warmly. That slight glow faded quickly, however. “And it was going well, actually. The new dog seems happy, at least. But then, um-...Well, it  _was_ good. Until I...got into an argument with my parents...”  
  
“Oh. I'm sorry to hear that...”  
_(Though not very surprised.)_   
  
Noelle's arms were beginning to hurt. Pitiable. Something so mundane and simple rendered her measly muscles useless in no time.  
  
Diya could evidently sense her friend's strength failing and offered up one hand to hold the umbrella for them.  
  
“Oh, um, thanks.”  
  
“Mm-hm.”  
  
After resettling into a mutually comfortable position, Noelle continued the conversation.  
  
“Do you mind my asking what you argued with them about?”  
  
“I guess that...these days, I'm just...beginning to wonder what my place is, when it comes to that kind of thing...And they're not-...” Diya swallowed again, evidently unsure how to finish the sentence. “I shouldn't complain. You have it much worse.”  
  
“ _I_ have it worse? What about your wife?”  
  
“...Yea.”  
  
If there had been  _one_ unequivocally good thing to come from Noelle's falling out with her parents, it had given her and Min-Seo quite the solid bridge to meet each other on.  
  
“It's not a contest, Diya,” Noelle cited. “Your familial struggles are no less valid.”  
  
“Still. I hate...disappointing them. Not only that. But even thinking these kinds of questions about...my  _place_ in everything. The universe. It's...not fun.”  
  
“I know the feeling,” sighed Noelle. “But I'm the  _last_ person you probably wish to speak with about such things, unless  _you,_ too, wish to live a faithless existence.”  
  
“Ha. I'd rather not...”  
  
“I'd expect as such. I imagine quite a  _bit_ of faith is required to deal with Min-Seo...”  
  
“Hm.” Diya chuckled quietly again, but...this one was smaller, and different. Like she'd been dragged back down to earth. Not Noelle's intention. “When you put it like that, I guess it... _is_ similar...”  
  
“Oh, no, no, forget my ignorant remarks.”  
  
“I believe in her – in us. Without a doubt. Despite...how I can't prove it'll work out. Sometimes.”  
  
“Apologies, Diya, I didn't...think before I spoke, I did  _not_ mean to imply...-”  
  
Noelle's sentence spilled off. Diya had rubbed her hand against Noelle's frail arm, at last breaking their intimate, prolonged contact. She still grasped the umbrella, all the while. The rain had picked up a bit, but was remaining steady and pleasant in its fall. A few chilly prickles against Noelle's knees here and there, but nothing all too bad. Glancing at Diya's much larger legs, by comparison (her jeans getting soaked with rain), and Noelle fretted that the woman might catch a cold.  
  
“I actually feel a little better,” Diya assured calmly. “About Min.”  
  
“Ah. Yes. That's good,” Noelle said with a hasty nod.  
  
“I've been nervous all day,” explained Diya. She was staring up at the umbrella, entranced by it, watching water droplets smack into it, congeal together, and taper off. “It's been the longest month of my life. I've been worried that maybe I wouldn't be able to...just pick up where we left off.”  
  
“Of  _course_ you will,” Noelle insisted. “In the ways that you  _need_ right now, at least. I'm certain you will.”  
  
“What if she hasn't  _learned_ anything?” Diya bemoaned softly. “What...happens then?”  
  
“We'll...confront that if it comes to it. Honestly, the fact that you're even  _pondering_ such things is itself a testament to how far you've come with this. And she  _did_ promise she would try counseling, right? That is... _huge._ I mean, isn't that the breakthrough we've been waiting for?”  
  
“...I guess.”  
  
Diya shrugged half-heartedly, the umbrella swaying with the motion. The way one's eyes can glaze over – that happened to her entire being in that moment.  
  
Noelle held in a sigh, but it grunted out softly after a moment.  
  
“Diya, I  _know_ this semester has not treated you kindly. But we're  _so_ close now. Min will be out  _tomorrow._ Your  _last_ semester will start. Baseball season will be back. As I understand it from Coach Vargas, your statistics are impressive, and you'll...surely keep that up.”  
  
“I'll be in it alone.”  
  
Noelle stifled another wary breath.  
  
It was true – Noelle and Akarsha had dipped out of baseball after a single season. Noelle had never even  _wanted_ to, and her body couldn't handle it. Akarsha had likewise just been tagging along for the novelty, and funny enough, as soon as Noelle expressed disinterest in repeating the sport, Akarsha had likewise dropped out. Diya had kept at it, naturally, with Min at her side. But now? For the first time since they'd began on that fateful high school day, Diya would be without Min-Seo on the playing field for the entire season. Her last season of college, at that. Altogether a less than ideal way of finishing off things.  
  
“You will  _not_ be alone,” Noelle cited. “We'll all be there, at every game.”  
  
“It's not the same.”  
  
“I-...I  _know_ that, but...-”  
  
“Thanks, though.”  
  
Diya's breathing was getting odd, and she wiped her palm down her face.  
  
“Sorry,” Diya mumbled shakily. Rebalancing her tone, she added, “I know it's not easy. Spending all of this time. Coming to games. Talking with Min. With  _me._ Helping us. You have...everything else, and...-”  
  
Noelle reached out and embraced her best friend quite solidly.  
  
“Diya, my dear, you and Min are unquestionably seated beside Akarsha at the top of my priorities. You three  _are_ the 'everything else.'”  
  
“...I know,” Diya mumbled, getting teary-eyed as she reciprocated the hug with one arm. That stray eyelash from before was still stuck to her cheek. The wind kicked up, stirring the umbrella momentarily. “I don't...want to hold you back from what you want. With your future.”  
  
“Diya,” Noelle chuckled warmly, her own eyes welling up. “ _How_ long have I been here? At your side? You  _are_ my future. All three of you. I thought I'd made that quite apparent by now.”  
  
“Yea, I just...-” She let out a slight, disparaging whimper as she shrugged.  
  
“Obviously,” Noelle went on, “we all have our own aspirations, our own goals and desires for what we wish to pursue, but...-” Noelle released her grip on Diya, and carefully used her coat's sleeve to wipe tears from Diya's cheeks (along with that eyelash), to which her friend bashfully smiled. “I am no longer... _shackled_ by parental particulars. I no longer answer to my mother. I  _am_ the mother, here.”  
  
“... _Heh._ ” Diya nodded, a beaming little grin about her, like a ray of afternoon sun poking through endless cirrus. “And...how does Akarsha feel about that?”  
  
“ _Erh_ ...-!” Noelle suddenly was reminded of quite the inappropriate, um, role-play moment Akarsha had tried to instigate some time the week prior. It had devolved into laughter, which had given way to copious physical contact, and-...That woman... “I'd...be more concerned about how  _Min_ feels about my unrelenting maternal gestures.”  
  
“ _Pff._ ” Diya spit air as her grin widened. “I think she likes it, actually.”  
  
“I mean, I'm simply trying to-...Wait,  _what_ ? She does?”  
  
“I  _think_ so,” Diya ruminated, gazing up at the rain, still drizzling down, with no signs of stopping. “It was back in...September? Maybe?” Diya's eyes squinted as she gathered her memory up. “You'd, um, bullied her into studying with you. For that history exam.”  
  
Noelle  _remembered_ that. They'd spent an entire evening together at the library. Noelle had taken Min's phone, even, to ensure there were no distractions. She'd been impressed with how focused Min had been on actually, well...studying.  
  
“I recall,” Noelle replied, tapping at her chin.  
  
“She ended up getting a B on that test.”  
“Ah, yes...”  
“Which, um, that-...that  _never_ happens, really. She said you were like her coach.”  
  
“Oh?” prodded Noelle, lamented just how wet their shoes were getting. Her feet were starting to get cold...  
  
“Mm.” Diya nodded. “She said something about how...even the best players need a good coach sometimes. Someone looking at the whole field, not just the mound. Objectively thinking about the big picture.”  
  
“She said that? She  _used_ that phrasing?”  
  
“Haha.  _No,_ ” Diya chuckled softly, her smile getting that Min-Seo-Glow to it. “But she said something  _like_ that. It's...what she meant. Um. A-And then she said how she wants to be the best person she  _can_ be. For me? And how...having a coach helps with that. Sometimes.”  
  
“ _Once_ in a while, perhaps,” Noelle coyly decided, resting her chin against her knuckle with a sly smirk. “Well,” she concluded, “I shall simply have to continue keeping that up, if it is indeed helping.”  
  
“It is. It actually-...” Diya paused, then laughed softly to herself about something. “It works out well. You and Akarsha. For Min, too, I mean. You both help her...-” Diya wobbled her palm out, conveying the notion of 'balance.' Diya concluded by muttering, “Just. Yea. I'm really glad you two are here.”  
  
With the rain still pattering all around them, Diya held out her hand, palm turned up, and Noelle accepted it. They squeezed hands together tightly, briefly, before disconnecting.  
  
“We're glad to  _be_ here,” Noelle responded. “Though I  _will_ admit, I'm not necessarily glad to be  _here,_ given the current state of things,” she flicked a wrist out at all of the rain around them, some drops splashing against her fingers. “It  _is_ nice to have this time with you, of course, I'm just...-” She shivered, perhaps a mental reflex.   
  
“ _Oh,_ ” Diya spat, fumbling herself up from the bleacher. “Sorry...”  
  
“N-No, it's fine, I-... _eeep!_ ”  
( _Aaaaand, oh my, that is_ _**cold!** _ _ )  
_   
Due to Diya's height, the umbrella was instantly outside of range for Noelle, leaving her to get slightly splashed. _   
  
_ Noelle's weak little legs thrust her upward, and Diya's face flashed with apology as she tried to lower the umbrella. It was a bit...inefficient. Diya was simply too tall. But Noelle was  _ not  _ about to rob her friend of the umbrella.  
  
There was no way they'd both be getting out of this field dry. They were already a bit soaked, as it was.  
  
But they would at least be traversing it together.  


 


	5. Part 5

\---  
**Part 5**  
\---  
  
“She _did_ it tho...!” Min was whispered with an uncharacteristic sparkle in her eyes. “She grew it out...!”  
  
Akarsha, whose own thinner hair was obviously no match against Diya's, shrugged, then became confused.  
  
“Wait, but...she _cut_ it.”  
  
“ _No,_ not the _head_ hair,” Min swatted, “the everywhere _else_ hair.”  
  
Akarsha's mind instantly went to the inescapable pubic region – she was pretty sure Noelle would throw a _tantrum_ if Akarsha grew _that_ out. On the upside, the long con would have an amusing payoff. Downside? No happy-fun-times with Noelle for weeks on end? Yea, hard pass. Not worth.  
  
“Not _there_ ,” Min spat, having read Akarsha's far-off expression plainly. “OK also _that_ but _no,_ like...-” Min's cheeks gained a pinkish glow that was almost frightening, in a way. Min murmured, “Her _arms,_ man...” Her eyes, her voice, her body language, it was all flickering like a kid in a candy shop. Erh, some more modern equivalent. A Minecraft shop? “Fucking beautiful arms...Holy shit such good big hairy arms...”  
  
“So gorilla arms make you hot, or somethin'?” Akarsha teased.  
  
“Does she LOOK like a gorilla to you?”  
  
“Nah, but you're describing gorilla arms.”  
  
“I will _knife you_ ,” Min immediately quipped, all that warm fuzzy shit dissolving from her expression in an instant.  
  
“Can't do _that_ if ya got your knives taken away,” Akarsha countered.  
  
“I HAVE SECRET KNIVES.”  
  
“I'm sure you _do,_ boo, you do you.”  
  
“STOP RHYMING.”  
  
“ _Ffshh,_ was just playin', anyway...Your bae's got good arms.”  
  
“Yer goddam RIGHT she does. Disagree and I will murder your family. Her arms are like those...fancy-ass statues with the romans n' shit.”  
  
“Uh-huh,” Akarsha agreed with a sly observation. Skipping the family-murder-threat bit, though...that was maybe something to bring to Diya's attention. Either way, Akarsha was keen on letting Min trek back down this weird flash of admiration.  
  
“Growing her hair out is like...-” Min flixed her little fingers into little fists. “-...like UNLEASHING her natural BEAST and that beast is also like a unicorn but ALSO like a tiger but _**ALSO**_ like a hercules.”  
  
“You mean a god?”  
  
“What? No, a _hercules._ Like from roman myths or whatever, gladiators n' shit.”  
  
Akarsha smirked, leaving her dear friend to her ignorant bliss.  
  
Tapping her cheek thoughtfullly, Akarsha mused, _“Mmmm,_ so if Diya's all _that_ and a bag of-...” _  
  
_“Dicks?!” Min hissed, suddenly enraged. “ _ **NO! Shut your fuck.**_ ”  
  
“I didn't even...-!” Akarsha blurted, suddenly grabbed by the collar of her hoodie. She was sure Min would've picked her right up off the ground if, ya know, shawty wasn't so shawt. Shorty wasn't so short? Hm...  
  
_Oh,_ right, Min was trying to be threatening right then. Akarsha had lost interest by how amusingly _small_ the girl was.  
  
“You realize I didn't even say 'dicks,'” Akarsha pointed out. “ _You_ did. So.” Akarsha, still clutched within Min's angry baby grip, shrugged up her arms dramatically. “Shows where _your_ mind must be at...” She administered a taunting, prolonged wink with a grin to match it.  
  
Min's face boiled up like a pot of spaghetti, but the lid came off, the bubbles settled, the noodles got soft, and she let Akarsha go.  
  
“Awww, good boi,” Akarsha teased some more, giving Min a pat on the head. Min slapped her hand away. “ _Owww~!_ ” Akarsha feigned agony, flicking her wrist. “You _wound_ me, and I thought we were friends. Friends don't hurt friends. You're gonna leave me with emotional _scars_ from all your _abuse._ ”  
  
“ _I'm_ still emotionally scarred from your 9th grade _period blood._ ”  
  
“ _Ooooooo_ true dat...” Akarsha pursed her lips and tapped a finger to her chin.  
  
“Besides, we...-” Min crossed her arms, staring awkwardly off to one side. “We _are_ friends, moron.” She huffed, quite audibly. “But I didn't... _actually_ hurt you, right? Just now?”  
  
_(Awww!!! So tsundere~!!)  
  
_“NAHHH gurl!” Akarsha squeezed in a brisk and playful shoulder pat. “I'm just _playin'_ with you, Gum-Drop.”  
  
Tapping at her phone, Min grumbled, “Yea, yea, whatever. Miss Meme _._ ”  
  
“ _Ouch,_ nice burnnn, Min-ee Mouse.”  
  
“ **SHUT.** ”  
  
“Awww, you didn't even finish that sentence 'cuz you knew you'd fuck it up!”  
  
Min looked like she'd bust her phone any second. “ _rghrghgrhrhrhhh..._ ”  
  
Clasping a hand against her cheek, Akarsha gasped, “Such _restraint,_ I'm so _proud_ of you, boo!”  
  
Akarsha at last gave Min her welcoming hug, thus embracing the angry pint Mountain Dew personified back into the fold of her life. And the folds of her armpits.  
  
“I ain't your BOO,” Min protested, squirming out of the hug a bit.  
  
But then she wasn't actually squirming _out_ of the hug, just trying to breathe. And also hug back.  
  
_(_ _ **awwww!! so. tsundere.**_ _)_  
  
Akarsha whispered mischievously, “I love you, too, little Matoi Ryuko.”  
  
“What?” Min was trying to ignore Akarsha with her phone.  
  
Planting her chin against Min's buzz-cut head, Akarsha murmured longingly, “The Shadow to my Sonic...Returned from the dead.”  
  
“ _UGH_ not this again...” Min rolled her eyes, struggling to swiped her screen within a tight hug.  
  
Min's tiny stature was suddenly _advantageous!_ Little pipsqueak slipped right through Akarsha's affectionate grasp! What a cheat! Living that Goldeneye Oddjob life-hack.  
  
“Peace out, bitch!” Min taunted as she ran away, peeling down some eye-skin and sticking out her tongue – like Akarsha taught her! “You ain't even good enough to be my fake!”  
  
With early 2000's memeology glimmering in her eyes, Akarsha called back longingly, “I'll make you eat those words!”  
  
_(But where you runnin' to, dude?)  
  
_Hadn't the plan been to meet up at the JAMBA for lunch? Get the gang back together? It had been a _minute,_ after all. Leaning herself up against the side of the building, Akarsha whipped out her phone – currently decked in a case portraying the illustrious underdog Waluigi with a rose in his teeth and shojo bubbles. Her phone's screen had more cracks than a lemon party, but she'd gotten used to it over the semester. Not like she could afford to fix it again, anyway. Maybe with Christmas money? If she really wanted to...  
  
She checked her texts – bae had hit her up.  
  
(Frenchman)  
[ Diya's feeling under the weather. ]  
[ I'm not sure if she'll be joining us. ]  
[ I tried asking Min about this but haven't heard back. ]  
  
_(Aw, what? Come on...Just when it's 'gonna be MAY', N-Sync gets torn apart...)_  
  
Akarsha replied with a gif of Patrick the starfish crying.  
  
With an uncertain sigh, Akarsha let her phone-toting hand hang, suddenly wondering why Min had taken off without any explanation. Maybe something was up? Gotten a text from Diya or...-?  
  
Bae had replied.  
  
With...a gif of Spongebob shooting tears like a hose into Patrick's mouth. And then Patrick doing the same in reverse. What the mother living fuck.  
  
Smirking, Akarsha fired off a gif of cgi Patrick looking all swooned over.  
  
Bae came back with a gif of Spongebob and Patrick looking kawaii af holding holds.  
  
Akarsha countered with some text first.  
  
[ I mean, if the JAMBA is off the table we could always]  
[make]  
[our own]  
[plans]  
  
She added a gif of Patrick maniacally rubbing his hands (stumps?) together.  
  
Noelle's response sent Akarsha into a brief burst of giggles.  
  
A gif of Spongebob pointing to a big red letter 'F', followed by:  
[ ?? ]  
[ 👀 ]  
  
Recovering from a red-faced giggle-fit, Akarsha answered with a [ 😘 ].  
  
Noelle's ending statement was [ 😈😈 ],followed by that one gif of Spongebob making a rainbow with his hands.  
  
Akarsha had taught the Frenchman well.  
  
[ aight frenchie ]  
[ Am I coming to you? ]  
  
The response Akarsha got was...-  
  
[ Wasn't the intended outcome that we BOTH came? ]  
  
Akarsha could feel her eyes nearly pop out of her skull. DUDE. What was _with_ Bae today? Like, she didn't _mind,_ but...-  
  
[ You are hornier than Bowser's backside today Bae ]  
[ gonna make me nosebleed all over the JAMBA. ]  
  
HAH, but once Akarsha called her _out,_ things were back to normal.  
  
[ EXCUSE ME, it is called 'courting.' ]  
[ You are a peacock, easily distracted and wooed. ]  
[ I am merely flashing a colorful display to catch your interest and arouse you, ]  
[ because I am thoughtful and mindful about intercourse instead of just POUNCING at you. ]  
  
Akarsha cheekily reminded, [ don't the peacocks WITH cocks do the fancy feather flinging? ]  
  
Noelle testily retorted,  
[ It's an imperfect metaphor! ]  
[ If you wish to debate semantics INSTEAD, I can always simply pleasure myself without your assistance. ]  
  
Akarsha's brows lifted.  
DAG. Noelle must've been stressed as fuck. She got hot when she was stressed, and the longer she was a nervous wreck, the crazier the shit she had to deal with, the kinkier she ended up getting. Well, on paper, anyway. In practice, she was still a noob, and Akarsha actually kind of...preferred that, here? Huh.  
  
Akarsha teased,  
[ We both know you're afraid to touch that thing without my supervision. ]  
The vibrator Akarsha had gotten Noelle for her birthday – had come in real handy.  
Pun intended? Did that even count?  
  
[ I STILL HAVE HANDS. ] Frenchie texted back.  
  
Grinning, Akarsha typed,  
[ Damn FINE ones. Keep them nails trimmed. ]  
  
Just as Akarsha laced on some snarky combo of emoji, Noelle fired off another text before she could send them.  
  
[ AHEM. Anyway... ]  
_(gurl why you typing out clearing your throat? I fucking love you, nerd.)_  
[ You're still loitering at the Jamba Juice, correct? ]  
  
Her head tilting with curiosity, Akarsha said,  
[ You mean the JAMBA? ]  
[ Yea. Why? ]  
[ You need me to pick up something? ]  
[ Is fruit juice this week's fetish? ]  
[ Because full disclosure I AM IN. ]  
  
Noelle sent [ 😶 ]. Then she added,  
[ 'Plans' may have to wait. ]  
[ I think we are still on for the group hangout. ]  
[ Diya is being... ]  
[ odd, but ]  
[ I'll be there shortly. ]  
  
Akarsha's stomach churned with unease for a sec. She just _knew_ that Diya was being weird about _her._ They hadn't spoken since Diya's nuclear meltdown days ago. That shit had been Nuka Cola crazy for a minute. Akarsha wasn't mad, though she was...mostly over it. She'd banged her fist on the Megaton after it'd been sitting around for so long, the hell'd she'd expect would happen? Definitely over it all enough to hang out. Especially on a double date.  
  
Akarsha considered her options. She fired off a text to the big D.  
  
[ Yo yo, are we still on for the JAMBA? ]  
[ Would be cool to get the beatles back together finally ay? ]  
[ Get our yellow submarine on. ]  
  
Akarsha had to wait, apparently. No responses.  
  
She bounced over to Min.  
  
[ EYYYY what's goin on? ]  
[ I know you prolly need some ointment for those sick burns I gave you ]  
[ but like ]  
[ you were here, then not. ]  
[ What's the deal? ]  
[ Thought we were getting the JAMBA? ]  
  
Man, why was Akarsha...getting all flustered over this? Normally she was damn good at, like, leaving people wanting. Teasing, prodding, leaving things hanging, putting the ball in their court, and then letting it roll on the floor when they threw it back to her side.  
  
She spent a couple minutes trying to think on this – did she go about things wrong? Was there even 'right' or 'wrong' with this shit? Well, there sure as hell was when it came to her fam, right?  
  
Man, why wasn't anybody replying? What-?  
  
Oh. She _had_ gotten a reply, just hadn't felt the vibration through her coat pocket.  
  
Min had answered,  
[ checking w diya sry ]  
  
After gazing at her phone with grouchy impatience for a few seconds, Akarsha switched her phone's sound on, then hopped back to Diya.  
  
[ Are we cool? ]  
[ You still need to stay unplugged from the Meme Queen? ]  
[ Cuz I'd get it if you did. ]  
  
She visited her Twitter, scrolled a bit, found a dumb Vine compilation she soaked in like nicotine, but then reached a clip that reminded her of a bad date years back. Made her question a lot of things.  
  
How had things worked out with Noelle?  
Akarsha was a meme trash baby. An underachiever who leaned on stupid jokes and acting like a dingus so people wouldn't expect anything from her.  
  
How in the hell had Noelle ended up interested in _that_? Akarsha was good with makeup but outside of _that_ what attractive qualities did she really have to offer?  
  
Hell, how did her and Diya end up becoming friends in the first place, anyway? Proximity?  
Was that really it? Just, what, fucking _chance?_ When it came to it, wasn't that how Akarsha ended up with this whole fam? Yea. Nothing _she_ did. Just the right place at the right time...like a meme gone viral.  
  
All the same, she couldn't bear the idea of losing Diya over something as stupid as trying to cheer her up the wrong way.  
  
She added in a mild panic to her text chain with Diya:  
[ tbh I'm freaking out a little? ]  
[ What do you want? ]  
[ What do I do? ]  
  
No sooner had her texts _swooshed_ across satellites did Akarsha want to _kick her own teeth in._ Why did this matter? Why was she freaking out like some fucking teenager? They were all supposed to be over that phase, right? She was just gonna make this worse.  
  
Out of nowhere, Akarsha could feel a dry heave shoving its way up her chest. Her eyes getting all twinkly with _emotion_ and it made no sense.  
  
She closed her eyes, gathered up loose hair strands behind her shoulders, bumped the back of her skull against the Jamba Juice's wall, and...just took a breath.  
  
_(What if Diya's secretly sick of me?)  
(What if I've been just annoying the fuck out of her for ages and she's too NICE to say anything?)  
(What if that stuff she said during that blowup goes deeper?)  
(What if I'm a shitty friend?)  
  
_Certain things Diya had said kept playing on a loop like the worst kind of Vine.  
  
_('You don't understand. Just don't. So much noise. That's all you do, just throw NOISE at everything...')  
('I'm so tired. Just tired from all the noise.')  
  
_The very _idea,_ the inkling, the doubt, the question – that Diya didn't actually _like_ her – was a knife's edge pressed against Akarsha's skin. A single push and the cut would be harsh. There were already enough fakers in her life – _(please please PLEASE don't do this to me again, not with Diya, not her)_  
  
Maybe part of Akarsha figured that if someone as fucking awesome and nice and cinnamon-roll as _Diya_ couldn't stand her, then maybe she really _was_ trash. Or maybe this was all just because if it was Noelle or Min, Akarsha knew how to navigate that. But with Diya it was just a gif of MATH floating around confused faces. Diya didn't _make_ sense. She was the sort of person who was legitimately sad that Hogwarts wasn't real, the sort of person who loved artificially colored foods for their “blue flavor” even though that was literally not an actual FLAVOR. Noelle had learned all of the factors and equations that made up The Big D. YAH but Akarsha was floundering on this exam, even after all this time.  
  
Noelle had done her studying, and Min...well, was in a way immune to this kind of shit, right? Teacher's pet. Akarsha couldn't just _kiss_ Diya (nice as that might be) and apologize and everything was better. But she also hadn't cracked the Matrix code like Noelle had. When it came to exams, Akarsha generally relied on what she'd picked up in class, along with what she'd skimmed from the minimum required materials, and just cruised it like a lazy fuck, riding off her intuition.  
  
But the Diya Class was, like, one of those Philosophy courses where half the shit the professor says is irrelevant on the midterms and you're supposed to like, look up shit in the syllabus and GUESS at which parts will get quizzed on, and...-  
  
Both Min and Noelle had figured that math out. _Min_ had figured out that math. The equations and rules of how Diya worked. Had Akarsha just...not been paying attention in class? Not doing enough studying? Maybe writing it all off as something simpler than it was? Maybe she needed to figure out a way to buckle down and-  
  
Her phone buzzed, playing the sound of collecting a Chaos Emerald.  
  
She had a new text message from Diya.  
  
[ I don't know. ]  
  
Another Chaos Emerald.  
  
[ Maybe we should talk? ]  
  
Akarsha bit her lip as she watched the [ . . . ] bounce around, and she waited.  
  
Another Chaos Emerald.  
  
[ Or maybe not today... ]  
  
Akarsha's fingers slid across her screen hastily as she whisked out an answer.  
  
[ I'm up for it if you are but only if you want. ]  
_-fwooosh-_

  
_(damnit damnit damnit did I force it??)_  
  
Emerald Number Four.  
  
[ OK, sure. After the JAMBA. ]  
  
Heh. She'd even typed it out like 'the JAMBA', so that was a good sign...  
  
Emerald Five. She'd be able to go full on Super Saiyan in a second at this rate.  
  
[ We'll meet you in like 10 minutes ]  
  
A swell of relief splashing over her, Akarsha replied,  
[ Cool. ]  
_-fwooosh-_  
before tucking her phone away and taking another moment to breathe.  
  
Diya had tried over the summer to coach Akarsha on some meditation crap, but...never seemed to stick. Not for actual meditation, anyway. Akarsha's brain went chasing its tail way too much. But for just forcing her to slow her own roll and _breathe_ when things got a little hairy? It helped with that.  
  
Emerald Six.  
  
From Noelle, this time.  
  
It was a gif of Homer Simpson creepily emerging from a wall of bushes – a reverse of how the animation usually played.  
  
It meant Noelle was...-  
  
“Bonjour,” Akarsha blurted around the corner of the building.  
  
A sly smirk was on Noelle's face as she slid around the building's edge and bumped hips with Akarsha, phone in hand.  
  
“Mon amour,” the Frenchman mischievously murmured.  
  
Akarsha squirmed her arm around Noelle's back, latching comfortably onto the woman's left hip and rubbing her thumb up and down against Noelle's bare skin, just beneath her blouse.  
  
Akarsha settled into a calm moment of snuggling her girlfriend while aimlessly scrolling her Instagram – oh, _damnnnn,_ duck face central today, yikes.  
  
Noelle, however, tucked her phone into her jacket and nuzzled her face _right up_ in there on Akarsha's neck _oooooo_ fine, nice, very yum good ah oo ? ? !  
  
Tickled by Noelle's bangs brushing against her cheek, Akarsha couldn't help but dive deep in for some make-outs,  
💯++ 👌 would bang 👏 👏  💯 **🔥 🔥** ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) o(*≧□≦)o **  
  
“-ing all right?”  
  
“** _Mmph..._ ?” Akarsha was too busy smooching Noelle's cute little neck to hear what had been said.  
  
With a sheepish laugh, Noelle shrugged Akarsha off, grabbing her wrist and massaging her _paaaa~~aaalm_ fuck did Akarsha wish she hadn't taught her...that...one...!  
  
“Are you _doing_ all right?” Noelle repeated, her tone snarky and confident, like Yugi taunting Kaiba after thwarting his dead to rights cheap-ass dragon bullshit with some counter card.  
  
Noelle's surprisingly adroit fingers worked Akarsha's palm like a masseuse, sending Akarsha's senses into a godamn _tizzy._ Akarsha was snickering uncontrollably for a moment before Noelle stopped, slapped her on the boob briskly, and chuckled, casting side glances to make sure no one saw them.  
  
“I was doin' _very very_ all right,” Akarsha mumbled, lathering on the dreamy, drunken-like vibes.  
  
“Yes, yes,” Noelle conceded with a playful eye-roll, tucking away the Yami persona and going back to the seemingly innocent, chipper little kid form. Only, like...not that because she was Noelle, but...yea. “Sorry to have _excited_ you so much, I didn't realize how _easy_ it would be...”  
  
Akarsha swept hair back over her skull and sighed in recovery.  
She, uh, heh, saw something about to happen...and...-  
  
“Pretty fuckin' easy when you're actin' like the gay Koopa King to my _Ma-rrmpphffhf-!_ ”  
“ _Heh._ \- _guhllgh?!_ ”  
  
Noelle had slapped her hand on Akarsha's mouth. So, of course, Akarsha had slobbered her tongue all over Noelle's hand to get it off. That's how those reacted to those, right?  
  
“There's PDA and then there's...whatever _this_ is...?”  
  
It was Diya. She and Min had come upon Akarsha licking her lips and Noelle rubbing saliva off on Akarsha's sleeve.  
  
“Is this a new 'kink?'” Min teased.  
  
“ _No_ ,” Noelle grumbled, her face flashing with embarrassment.  
  
“I ain't kink-shamin',” Min cited flatly, shrugging up one arm.  
  
“I am,” Diya said dryly, but with that gentle, half-awake look about her.  
  
“Just according to _keikaku_ ,” Akarsha seethed in a raspy, triumphant growl, having seen Min and Diya approaching and intending to have them get caught in some weird-ass saliva-ridden moment.  
  
Noelle gave Akarsha a shove – but the poor woman's arms were too scrawny to make Akarsha budge.  
  
Min huffed out, “You two gonna quit it so we can get some of the JAMBA or what?”  
  
Akarsha and Noelle half-tickled, half-stumbled over each other as they wound around the corner of the building, meeting Diya and Min up toward the front.  
  
Diya opened the door, letting everyone else in.  
  
Akarsha went last, and couldn't help but take a split-second, slow-mo shot to swap looks with the Big D. YAH. There was a weird...softness to her expression, like a sadness. Different from how she'd been all month, that had been more like _'I can't feel you there; Become so tired, so much more aware'_ , but this was more like _'Look at this photograph; Every time I do it makes me laugh.'_  
  
So, uh, all things considered, a good sign?  
Maybe?  
Better of two evils, anyway...  
  
Akarsha found herself too preoccupied with trying to get read on Diya's mood that ordering their drinks was a blur. It was like last-minute cramming when everyone was already at their desks five minutes before the bell rang for the mid-term.  
  
Slightly slouched, little snarky, possibly impatient? Hand unflinchingly locked with Min's. Ordered mango-something without hesitation. Paid for both her and Min's drinks. Clerk tried to start small-talk, Diya havin' _none of that._ Whisked Min off ASAP to sit at a table in the corner.  
  
Akarsha's ribs were whapped by Noelle's bony elbow, snapping her to.  
  
“ _Unh?_ ” Akarsha gawked, blinked, gaping around. Noelle's narrow-eyed, deadpan face smirked at her, then bobbed toward the clerk, who looked a bit meek from the social tension.  
  
Coffee one, needed a coffee one...  
  
“La Vida Mocha,” Akarsha blurted at the first coffee-looking one she found.  
  
“Orange Carrot Karma for me, please,” Noelle primly ordered, digging into her jacket's inside pocket.  
  
“Fuckin' _veggies,_ bro?” Akarsha teased, giving Noelle a playful hip bump. “Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose?”  
  
“Says the woman who got a _coffee_ blend...”  
  
Akarsha watched Noelle place her card on the table to pay, a sting of guilt pricking at her own lack of funds for such things. She _could've_ paid for her own if she really wanted to. Barely. Noelle seemed to take a certain pride in getting food for her girlfriend, but Akarsha wondered what she did that paid that back in return...  
  
“Coffee was _made_ for drinking,” Akarsha pointed out with a waggling finger. “Veggies were made for _not_ that.”  
  
As the clerk rang up the order, Noelle raised an amused brow at Akarsha.  
  
“Name?”  
  
“Noelle.”  
  
“Got it.”  
  
As the clerk let them free, Noelle whispered into Akarsha's ear, “Corn. Cucumber. Eggplant.”  
  
Akarsha's face sizzled at the not-so-PG memories.  
  
“ _Yes_ ,” Noelle quipped, giving Akarsha a teasing bat of the back of her wrist. “Do _not_ try to tell me what vegetables are 'intended' for, Madame, as you don't seem to understand their intended function yourself.”  
  
“Aw, what kinky shit are you two up to _now_ ?” Min grumbled at them when they reached their table.  
  
“ _What_ ?” Akarsha blurted, grinning a dumb, nervous grin. “Nothin'...”  
  
“You definitely were talking about something inappropriate,” Diya observed, that same calm, sleepy look on her face.  
  
“Just according to _keikaku_ ,” Noelle hissed devilishly over Akarsha's shoulder.  
  
“Just smoothie's n' stuff,” Akarsha dismissed, trying to regain her cool as they sat down.  
  
“Sounds messy,” Diya decided.  
  
“Don't shame them,” Min cackled quietly.  
  
“I am,” said Diya, her face pleasant but a sneaky twinkle in her eye. “It sounds unhygienic.”  
  
Akarsha suddenly burst out a weird, twittering, awful giggle. Goddamnit, she was nervous, WHY, this was the FAM, why would she be-? FUCK everyone was staring at her!  
  
“ _-EHHHhhhh_ ,” she breathed out of her giggle, reigning herself the hell back in.  
  
Noelle poshly sifted her fingertips against the side of Akarsha's head, pushing hair over her ear. Akarsha tried to let the calming gesture settle her back down.  
  
“Hey, Noelle,” Min grunted.  
  
“...Mm?” Noelle replied, wide-eyed and curious.  
  
“You haveta, like, go take a dump right now?”  
  
Noelle's eyes popped wide, but her eyebrows remained fixed in their usual cynical position.  
  
“Excuse me?” she said.  
  
Min's expression soured to match.  
  
“We gotta go to the toilets,” Min grumbled, slapping her palm against the table. “ _Right?_ ”  
  
“How-? _What-?_ Why do we...-?” Noelle looked flustered as hell. Diya was awkwardly avoiding everyone's gazes, her elbows on the table, fingers fumbling against the fabric of her sweater sleeves.  
  
_Ah._ Akarsha got what was up.  
  
“Hey, _Diya_ ,” she spat, trying to sound funny and over-enthusiastic bit coming out weak-sauce and shaky af. “How 'bout we, like, TALK. Outside? So these two ain't stuck in the bathroom.”  
  
When Diya's coy, long-lashed eyes slid toward her, Akarsha accented her proposal with a flashing, fluttering eyelids, wrists against her chin, and a beaming smile.  
  
“'Ey?” AKarsha pleaded.  
  
Diya blinked, glanced down briefly, then looked back up and nodded.  
  
Relieved, Akarsha's nervous fumbling deteriorated a bit, and the two of them got up from the table. Noelle stole a quick, supportive kiss on Akarsha's hand – _damn gurl_ so smooth – and Min gave Diya's hip a solid _pat-pat-get'emTiger_ (it was as high as she could reach from her seat, after all). With that, Akarsha and Diya headed outside.  
  
Hovering at the glass double doors awkwardly (😅 😅), they took a moment to figure out...where to go. Well. There _were_ tables and crap right there, outside, it was just kinda too cold for anyone to wanna sit there.  
  
Soooo they did.  
  
Damn chair was a bit wet from the rain earlier, but Akarsha's coat absorbed most of it. She and Diya settled into their seats, bashfully smiled at each other, aaaaand the awks attacked.  
  
“Look, uh, D,” Akarsha cleared her throat, swallowed, and sighed.  
  
“Sorry,” Diya murmured out.  
  
“ _I'm_ sorry,” Akarsha insisted.  
  
“I was in a bad place,” Diya explained, biting her lip as her fingers dug into her sleeves. “It's-...Need _warning_ with that kind of stuff. If you surprise me with it, then...-”  
  
“Like scaring a rabbit, gets all jumpy.”  
  
“S-Something like that,” Diya laughed lightly. “Especially when I'm not feeling-...I mean. It was all bad. It comes out, and it-...” She made a weird gesture, one hand balled into a fist and the other hand covering it up. Grunting out a sigh, Diya scratched at her hair, her eyes flickering around thoughtfully. “I need time to put it back. To hide it away.”  
  
“...Ah.”  
  
Akarsha _sort_ of got it? She thought? Diya wasn't done, though.  
  
“With everything lately, I've been...scared, and-...So, when you showed up that night, I was-...Wasn't in a good place, but had no time to put it _away._ And you just came in, and you _saw_ it, and-...I'm just _so_ sorry. You're not supposed to ever see that...”  
  
“Whoa, dude, heyyyy,” Akarsha cooed, noticing Diya's eyes were getting all teary. “ _I_ was the one gettin' all up in yer business, doin' what I thought you needed before, ya know, actually _checking_ . I was trying to give you what _I'd_ want in your sitch, instead of what _you'd_ want. I fucked up, man. Friendship for the _fail._ ”  
  
“Well...” Diya rubbed at her eyes a little with her thumb. “But. I _yelled_ at you...Like. Some of the things I said...-”  
  
“Well, _urh,_ ya _did_ done gave me a spook, D, but...-” Akarsha planted her elbow on the table, sagging her cheek into her palm. She waited until she had her friend's wary gaze, then flashed a smile. “It's _fine,_ my feline.”  
  
“I'm not a cat.”  
  
“You're... _liiiiike_ a cat.”  
  
Diya's eyes blinked twice, seemingly unreadable.  
  
“OK,” she mumbled, her mouth barely forming a smile. “Uh. Thanks?”  
  
Akarsha's brows curved nervously and she fluttered a laugh through her lips.  
  
Diya sniffed, her gaze looming back down to the rain-dampened glass table. Her eyes were watering up again, and her lips quivered.  
  
“This past month, I-...” She closed her eyes, steadying her breath. “I needed you. And you weren't there for me. Not how I needed.”  
  
Akarsha's stomach flipped sideways.  
  
“...Oh,” she eked out, deflated.  
  
Diya's hands folded over one another, her thumbs rubbing against her own knuckles. Continuing to stare at the water droplets on the wet table, she elaborated.  
  
“I needed support. Real support. And you...did the same things you do.” Diya's eyes shifted up, and a shiver went down Akarsha's spine. “Wasn't helpful.”  
  
“Fuck,” Akarsha mumbled fretfully, swallowing the lump in her throat. Still slouched over on her elbow for support, she began running her finger through raindrops on the glass, connecting them together. “I'm...real sorry, D. Just-...I mean, like, I had no idea. You're just-...You're hard to _read_ sometimes. Most of the time. Always.”  
  
“I know,” Diya sighed, coking out a half-laugh, half-sob. “Working on that...”  
  
“But, like, I fucked up – I coulda _asked_ ,” Akarsha reflected with a one-sided shrug of useless hindsight. “Didn't think being apart for a few weeks would mess you up so bad. _Shit._ I should've paid more attention.”  
  
Diya took in a deep breath, watching Akarsha's fingertip water-glide.  
  
“Wasn't _just_ Min,” Diya explained. “Everything else. Too much. I can't-...” She trailed off, shaking her head. “I don't want to explain.”  
  
“ _W000,_ boo, 's coo. You do you.”  
  
Diya raised a puzzled brow, but smirked a little.  
  
Akarsha specified, “You don't gotta explain _nothin'_ to me, 'kay? You n' me?” She flicked a wrist back and forth. “We're _good,_ as long as _you're_ good. But, like, _man,_ I can be thick sometimes...”  
  
Diya's expression withered. Akarsha's bubbled up like a child holding onto a water balloon.  
  
“Sorry,” Akarsha sighed out, relieving the tension. _Erh_ ...- “'S just that, like, we work _way_ different. I'm Mario, you're Luigi.”  
  
“...”  
  
“I'm Sonic, you're Tails.”  
  
“...”  
  
“I'm Spike, you're Jet.”  
  
“...”  
  
“I'm Edward, you're Alph-”  
“OK.”  
  
Diya was tapping her thumbs against her her own arms, which were crossed. _AH right_ she did that when she was...impatient? Yea. Probably.  
  
“Yea, sorry again,” Akarsha blurted. She sucked in a deep breath and expelled a lotta hot garbage. “It's like a self-defense mechanism where when shit is complicated or confusing I just lean SUPER hard into dumb humor and memes n' shit because how can I legit fail at being a good person if I don't TRY right?? like how can peeps be disappointed in me if they ain't takin' me _seriously because_ if I had to take shit seriously I might fucking cut my own wrists from the stress you feel me???”  
  
Akarsha gasped for air, rubbing her palms against her face. When she dared to look at Diya, she was met with a wide-eyed, concerned look.  
  
“...Mm,” Diya hummed, nodding slightly.  
  
“ _Fuck,_ dude, I'm not _good_ at this,” Akarsha groaned quietly, flopping herself back into her chair, her head rolled back while she stared up at the table umbrella cast over them. “Just, like, forget all that, OK? It's simple: I suck.”  
  
“Me, too,” Diya said.  
  
Akarsha whipped her head back, chin to her chest.  
  
“We _are_ really different,” Diya agreed. “But all of us are. From each other. We've...made it work _so_ far.”  
  
“...Yea,” Akarsha said, nodding eagerly as she straightened back up in her chair.  
  
“Noelle and Min, they're...good at saying what they're thinking. I'm... _not._ ”  
  
Akarsha scratched at an itch behind her ear, shrugging.  
  
“Guess I'm not the best at it, either. Least, not saying what I _mean._ ”  
  
“Good thing we have girlfriends to help us with translating.”  
  
“...Heh.”  
  
“Not sure I would've talked with you today if they hadn't both helped.”  
  
“Oh, yea?”  
  
“...Mm.”  
  
“Well. Nice. But, so...-” Akarsha flapped her hands up in a shrug. “What do we do? Any way I can make up for things?”  
  
Diya's eyes did that fuckin' cute thing where they looked away. Waited. And then she replied, still looking away.  
  
“We could still have movie night.”  
  
Akarsha beamed confidently at this proposal.  
  
“ _Redemption!_ And I can _not_ burn the popcorn this time!”  
  
“That...would be nice.” A smile! _(We back in business!)_ “Our room still...smells kind of smokey...”  
  
“I can...get an air freshener!”  
  
“Those bother my nose...”  
  
“I can...get a _candle._ ”  
  
“Min might...accidentally burn our flat...”  
  
“I can...-” Akarsha played up a hella exasperated look. “-...open a window and clean your microwave.”  
  
“Heh.” Diya's eyes squinted with delight. “Actually. That would be a big help.”  
  
“I'll get high on Windex and it'll make the movie even better.”  
  
“What movie were we going to watch, again?”  
  
Akarsha spouted out a cocky ' _Heh!_ ,' rubbing her thumb at her nose before declaring,  
“The Last: Naruto the Movie.”  
  
“No, thanks.”  
  
_(DAMNNN she shut that down SO EFFORTLESSLY with the politest smile!!)  
  
_ Diya made a counter offer: “How about we watch Frozen, instead?”  
  
“But...you've seen that like five times already??”  
  
To this, Diya folded her hands together, smiling plainly. Batting those big fuckin' eyelashes.  
  
“I mean...if you _want_ ,” Akarsha conceded defeat.  
  
“Unless you want to binge-watch the Harry Potter movies?”  
  
“We-...We could _do_ that,” Akarsha offered, praying Diya wasn't being serious.  
  
“ _Mm_ ...Break is almost over. Maybe we'll save that for spring.”  
  
_(Slack = cut)  
  
_ “So,” said Diya. “You clean my microwave. And we watch Frozen.” Diya extended her hand across the table. “Deal?”  
  
“I'll _buy_ it at a high _price_ ,” Akarsha rasped, eagerly shaking Diya's hand.  
  
“...OK.”  
  
Akarsha then noticed Min was glaring out the glass doors, two smoothies gripped in her hands. She was looking pretty annoyed, and shot Akarsha a wild shrug of disbelief.  
  
“ _Ruh-_ roh,” Akarsha growled, nodding her head to Min.  
  
“Mm?” Diya swiveled in her chair.  
  
FUNNY. Min's expression went from sour to sweet like a fuckin' gobstopper _real quick.  
  
_ “Oh.” Diya waved to her girlfriend, who tried to wave back, almost spilling a mango smoothie. “Maybe we should go back inside.”  
  
“ _Toit_ ,” Akarsha declared, bounding from her chair so quick her crocs nearly slipped off.  
  
Diya nearly bumped her head on the table umbrella, heh. Akarsha moseyed right on past her, ready for some _caffeine,_ bitches, 'cuz _damn,_ she was-  
_hurrrk-?!  
  
WELP, _ that was definitely a Diya tiddy, right up against her. Yup. Theyyy were hugging. Between her height and her cup-size, hugs with Diya were often sorta, heh, _fun._ Er, tricky, she meant. Difficult. Yup. So very very difficult, man.  
  
“I didn't really mean what I said when I yelled at you,” Diya sighed into Akarsha's shoulder. “Sorry.”  
  
“'S cool, D,” Akarsha insisted, trying to return this semi-sideways hug without it getting too weird. “We all got our Satsui no Hadō side...”  
  
“...”  
  
“ _I mean,_ uh-” She pounded her palms against Diya's back. “No probalo!”  
  
“You're...trying to apologize, too. Huh?”  
  
“Yes yes shit sorry I'm hella tired and been stressin' about this all damn week and-”  
“It's OK.”  
  
Diya pounded her palms against Akarsha's back in return. Knocking the _wind_ outta her.  
  
Leaving Akarsha gasping for air, Diya softly and sweetly declared, “It's time for the JAMBA.”  
  
Akarsha lingered outside, watching Min and Diya _peck each other_ and start drinking their smoothies, so kawaiiii~!!  
  
Diya turned to Akarsha, but Akarsha flashed up an index finger. She needed a minute.  
  
Had to tweet this shit, felt so good.  
  
An old photo of her and Diya at their high school graduation.  
Akarsha was making a lewd gesture with Diya's cap tassel.  
Diya looked nervous, still as a statue.  
  
Caption:  
[ look at this GRAPH 👌👀 ]  
  
Send tweet.  
  
Seventh Chaos Emerald.  
  
( Diya )  
[ Um so you mentioned it and it scared me a little. But. I'm glad you didn't cut your wrists. Please don't do that. Maybe we should also talk about that next time? ]  
  
Glowin' like Super Saiyan Sonic.

 


	6. Part 6

 

Bed was smaller than Min remembered. Why didn't they just mash the two beds together? They  _had_ two. Didn't  _need_ two. Made Min nervous when her first night back, Diya had like, kicked her out of her bed, like a damn dog, asked her to go sleep in her  _own_ bed. What the fuck? Min  _never_ slept in her own bed, always slept in Diya's bed. Min's bed was, like, just an extra sitting place or something. Occasionally storage space. Not intended for sleeping alone on.  
  
Min had spent that whole  _month_ dying for this, though. Had been a huge relief when on the second night back, Diya let her into bed. Obviously, banging had gone down. Why in the  _fuck_ Diya had tortured Min – and herself – forcing them to  _wait_ a whole  _day_ (sorta  _two_ since it was the  _nighttime_ on the second day outta the clink), man, just-... _Why?  
  
_ But yea, they'd banged, it had been fucking fantastic. Not as long as Min would've thought or expected. Like Diya wasn't  _into_ it like usual? Fucking weird, kinda scary in a way.  
  
And now Min finally had what she'd waited all month for –  _in bed. With DIYA_ – and she couldn't  _sleep._ Was annoying as hell. Sort of like staying up the night before Christma only sorta reversed?  
  
On the upside, Min usually conked right out after she fucked, aaaaand that made it so she never got to see Diya all, like...asleep. You know, like,  _enjoy_ it, right? How damn beautiful she was, how cute her face was when she was sleepin'. Way her hair curled against her pillow, against her head, her cheek. Way her lips would do what they did. Min had slid herself up against Diya's chest, using bae's tits like a pillow. Could feel Diya's heartbeat  _buh-dum...buh-dum_ against her cheek. Was so  _weird_ to think about. All of these cords and cables wrapped inside this beautiful  _creature,_ with some crazy little  _machine_ always bumping blood through the cables, just, wow. Nature was fucking wild, man.  
  
But Min was still not sleepy somehow.  
  
She heard the front door to their flat open downstairs. Prolly Akarsha? Heh. Min had given the chick a head's up that there was gonna be some fucking going on.  
  
Min's phone buzzed from the nightstand.  
  
Damnit. Min wanted to move, but also  _didn't_ want to move 'cuz damn, this was comfy, but also like,  _fuck,_ could not sleep, and also wait, what if she woke Diya up? Shit.  
  
Min was all careful, sliding out of bed. Diya made a  _cute as hell_ noise and rolled onto her back, put her hands on her tummy...!!  
  
Stunned at the adorable sight of Diya's boobs kind of smooshing out because gravity, Min was a little disappointed when Diya grunted sleepily, pulling her blanket up over herself. Damn. Well, those babies needed to stay warm, too, right?  
  
_-rrrrrrmmmm!-_   
  
Oh, yea. Phone.  
  
( akarsha )  
( Yooooo you two done banging each other's brains out yet? Is it SAFE? )  
( I need a hazmat suit or what? )  
  
Min smirked, laughing through her nose.

 

She replied,  
( the fucks that?? )  
( and yea we're done d is sleepin tho )  
  
Min fumbled around in her boxers in the dark, deciding to go hang with Akarsha for a bit. Got another text while she found her way to the door.  
  
( LOL it protects you from radiation. )  
( daaaamn, it's only like 8:30?? )  
( Your boo must be tired af! )  
( You really wore her out, huh? )  
  
Min recollected the whole fucking thing not...going how she'd expected it to. But Akarsha didn't need to know about that shit.  
  
( ha i guess lol )  
( comin down )  
  
As Min snuck her way out, she read Akarsha's reply while she went for the stairs.  
  
( Oh I bet you DID, no wonder D's tuckered out. ;P )  
  
“ _Tss._ ” Min shook her head and grinned at the dumb humor. FUCK she'd kinda missed her girls. Obviously Diya the most but like DAMN even just saying dumb shit with Akarsha, she MISSED this? Noelle had been sorta avoiding her and like, yea, no surprise, but Min even wanted to hang out with HER, now, how messed up was that?  
  
Min-seo was dressed in nothing but Diya's Hufflepuff sweater and a pair of blue boxers. They shared the flat with a couple other girls Min basically never talked with, sooo, prolly a good idea to, like...put on pants? Maybe?  _Gahhh._   
  
Min grabbed her dirty sweatpants up from the floor, right where she'd tossed them an hour or so ago, and jumped into 'em.  
  
Min walked downstairs to the flat's kitchen, shared by all five of them living in the place. Akarsha was putting something in the microwave, still in her work clothes. Had a part time job for the holidays, apparently, just helping out at some grocery store or some bullshit. When the semester started back up she said she wanted to find a new job that wasn't Taco Bell, buuuut she'd  _been_ saying that crap for the past two years, and always ended up at TB, anyway.  
  
Like Min could talk shit about it, she didn't even  _have_ a job...Got fired from her last two. Made everyone think she QUIT the last one, but-... _Agh,_ like it made any difference, she didn't have a job. Period. Maybe, if she could get a new one, she could just not worry about trying to finish this school thing. Less money to worry about that way, too, right?  
  
Min had been standing behind Akarsha, watching the microwave glow and buzz.  
  
“Dang, Naruto, goin' all ninja, sneakin' up like that.” Akarsha crossed her arms, turning around with a smirk. Her eyes were a little red, though. She looked pretty tired.  
  
Min trudged over to her friend, held up her palm, paused...and pressed her palm into Akarsha's shoulder. What was the word for-? Oh, no, wait, she remembered.  
  
“Rasengan,” Min mumbled, flexing out her fingers against Akarsha to nudge her slightly.  
  
Akarsha grinned at the anime reference. Girl was easy to please, anyway, just required some of that...memory brain stuff.  
  
“Anyway,” said Akarsha, opening the microwave just before the timer went off. “ _Agh,_ shit,” she mumbled in pain when she went to pull her bowl out. Flicking her hand, she glared at the steaming ramen bowl, asking Min, “What was it like, being in the  _clink_ ?”  
  
“Fucking boring,” Min blurted simply.  
  
“Aw, what? Really?” Akarsha sounded disappointed. “No, uh, no shivs, no illicit dealings, nooooo-?”  
“It was boring,” Min repeated. “I hated it. Got so fuckin' bored I...-” Min grit her teeth, seething, “I... _read. a. book._ ”  
  
“Good GOD man,” Akarsha gasped. Grabbing a dish rag in one hand an an oven mitt in the other, she cautiously pulled her bowl out, setting it on the counter. “TV has  _lied to me?_ Top ten anime betrayals.”  
  
Min went to the cupboard. Was feeling hungry herself, now.  
  
“Yea, well. Good to be  _out,_ anyway,” she mumbled, sighed, and went digging around. Shit, which of these was...theirs to eat? Well, she  _did_ see Diya eating from this bag of pretzels earlier...“Felt a  _lot_ longer than a month.”  
  
“I bet.” Akarsha was wimpily opening the top of the bowl so all the steam came rushing out. “How uh-...So, like, how's things going with seeing that shrink?” Akarsha dropped the rag and mitt on the counter and leaned back against it, watching Min scavenge.  
  
Grabbing the mostly full bag of pretzels, Min decided it would suffice. She closed the cabinet, shrugging bitterly in response to Akarsha's question.  
  
She popped a pretzel into her mouth, chewing in one cheek and speaking in the other.  
  
“Fugginkshux.”  
  
“Mm.” Akarsha had her chin on her wrist in that doofy way she did, trying to look all smart. But she didn't say anything right away. No smart-ass joke or nothing. Her eyes wandered to the floor. “Uh-... _Mm._ ” Her eyes narrowed and her brows went down. What she thinking about? Better not be getting too serious, the whole  _reason_ Min got out of warm, Diya-filled bed to see her was to  _not_ get serious.  
  
Chewing another pretzel with an uneasy feeling in her chest, Min shrugged. She swallowed before she spoke this time.  
  
“Just a thing I gotta do, right? Keep everyone off my back and shit.”  
  
Min found her eyes warily locked on Akarsha's face. Watching those eyeballs of hers get all weird and lost somewhere, then finally look back at her.  
  
“The doc they got you seeing,” Akarsha said. “What're they like?”  
  
_(no no no no I'll take more MEMES before this come on)  
  
_ “Erh-...What?”  
  
“They  _helpin'_ you?” Akarsha checked, still all  _thinky-looking_ with her chin on her knuckles. “'Cuz, like...-” Akarsha's eyes rolled up, then to one side, and she lifted up a shoulder. “Just sayin', if they ain't actually doing you any  _good,_ could always ask for a new shrink.”  
  
Min spitefully ate  _three_ pretzels at the same time while Akarsha went on with this bullshit.  
  
“Don't get me wrong, boo, I-”  
“Ain'tcher  _boo_ .”  
Akarsha flashed a stupid grin, but that went back to  _serious face_ in a second.  
  
Her fist finally fell from her face. Her arms crossed, she stared at her ramen bowl, cooling off.  
  
“Seeing a psychiatrist or whatever, it's not about them 'fixing' you, it's more like...-” Akarsha's head tilted a little. “-...they help you unpack your shit.  _You_ still gotta decide what shit is worth keeping, where you gonna put it, what ya gonna  _do_ with it. We're, like, movin' out of Kid Land and  _into_ Adult Land, that shit  _sucks,_ for real, but...can't move into the new house without  _unpacking_ all our shit. Who wants to live in a room with a buncha boxes, right?”  
  
“...Maybe I do.”  
  
“ _Psh._ Ok OK okay.” Akarsha sucked in air through her nose, held her hands out toward her ramen. She waited a sec, then snorted out her breath. “Lemme take another stab at this.”  
  
“I will stab you back harder.” Min chomped on a pair of pretzels.  
  
“Put that on hold a sec, bro. OK. So.” Akarsha pointed at her steaming ramen bowl. “Growin' up? You been like this ramen. Sealed up, stuck in the microwave,  _vvvvvvvvv_ -...then Diya's back in your life,  **-DING!** _ Outta  _ the microwave. Fuck the system, fuck your parents, fuck all of that heat and light, and whatever.”  
  
“Touch me and you'll get burned,” Min grunted, sort of...getting her. Maybe?  
  
“ _ Right! _ ” Akarsha said, snapping her fingers and pointing at Min. “You been in that crap, all sealed up and gettin'  _ cooked _ , you're too hot to handle.”  
  
“Don't I know it?”  
  
“ _ Heh.  _ But, like...-” Akarsha sighed, running a hand across her scalp. Min munched another pretzel. “You needa  _ pop that lid off,  _ let the steam out, cool  _ down,  _ before you can be an adult. I mean, before can be eaten.”  
  
Min gave Akarsha a deadpan look.  
  
“Diya's been 'eating' just fine, up until...-”  _ (fuck nope stop.) _   
  
“Right, but-...Am I making  _any_ sense?” Akarsha murmured warily, rubbing her finger against her eyebrow.  
  
Min was caught off guard by the look in her eyes. Like she was...frustrated? Tired? Annoyed.  
  
Min's own eyes went sliding off to the side. She didn't know what to say. Shrugged up on shoulder. Ate another pretzel.  
  
“Diya's been getting her fingers burned trying to pull you outta the microwave. Pop that lid off. All that steam is  _burning_ her fingers, bruh. You  _get_ that?”  
  
“The  _fuck_ you want me to say?” Min huffed,  _really_ not liking this accusing kinda voice of hers.  
  
“I don't  _care_ ,” Akarsha groaned through her hand, pushed up over her face. She wiped it fingers down, let her arm hang, and just...glared. “This ain't about saying, it's about  _doing_ .”  
  
Min ate another pretzel.  
  
“Whadda want me to  _do,_ then?”  
  
“What does  _Diya_ want you to do?”  
  
“See the-...Go to the shrink? I-I dunno, get...a job? Maybe? Or, like, finish school? I don't-...I don't  _know._ Just...doing what she tells me to...”  
  
“Ya'll needa  _talk_ ,” Akarsha huffed dismissively, turning her attention to her ramen. She grabbed a fork out of a drawer and stirred it around a little. “Diya's bein' too chickenshit to  _tell you_ what's up, maybe you gotta  _make_ her,  _I_ don't-...” She trailed off, shaking her head as she stirred.  
  
“Don't you call her that,” Min grunted. Ain't  _nobody_ was gonna smack talk Diya like that.  
  
“I wasn't...-” Akarsha stopped, biting her lip all weird-like, and sighed through her nose. She looked at Min. “Sorry, dude, I didn't mean it like that, it's just... _hella_ frustrating watching you two like this.”  
  
“...Like what?” Min asked.  
  
“ _Like_ ...-!” Akarsha's shoulders bounced up wildly, like this was...some obvious thing Min was missing.  
  
Aw, shit. This...was probably some obvious thing Min was missing.  
  
“It's like Diya and you're in this raft, and you keep...punchin' holes into it, and so Diya keeps patching 'em up. She's runnin' outta duct tape, my dude. And your raft's takin' on water.”  
  
(... _wat?)  
  
_ Akarsha could read the room. Or, like, Min's face, anyway.  
  
“ _Min_ ,” Akarsha huffed dully. “You're dragging her  _down_ . We're all growing up – 'cept  _you_ .”  
  
_(fuck you what the shit ohmygod you wanna fight??)_   
  
Min spat back, “Says the fucking...meme queen.”  
_(Yea, take that! WHAM...)  
  
_ Akarsha wasn't phased at all...!!!  
  
“I  _meme,_ that's-...OK, so, I'm a trash-baby internet ho, so what?” She shrugged off Min's insult like it was nothing!!! “I don't get myself  _arrested._ I ain't  _hurtin'_ people, I ain't hurtin'  _Noelle,_ I'm payin' my own bills, I'm  _doing_ my schoolwork. I have responsibilities – and I'm taking care of 'em.”  
  
“The fuck am I  _supposed_ to do?!” Min hissed, struggling to keep her voice down. “The world bites, I bite back! I'm not  _book smart_ like you two are.”  
  
“Diya's not exactly Albret Einstronk but she  _studies,_ bruh! She  _works_ to keep those grades up.”  
  
“Studying doesn't  _ work  _ for me like that, I  _ suck  _ at it. 'S like trying to teach...erh...dog to... _ fly _ ?”  
  
“I mean, I  _ feel  _ you, Ketchup 2, I  _ do,  _ but...it ain't about doing what you can't, it's about  _ trying  _ to do what you  _ can,  _ and, like... _ not _ ...doing...what you're not  _ supposed  _ to.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Noelle  _ sucks  _ at...literally anything involving muscles. So she doubles down on what she  _ doesn't  _ suck at.”  
  
“...OK?”  
  
“Diya's good at sports! So she keeps doing that.”  
  
“...Yea?”  
  
“And  _ I'm _ ...completely average, so...I...maintain the status quo.”  
  
“And me?”  
  
“You...are good at doing shit you ain't  _ supposed  _ to, but that's just 'cause you're taking what you're good at and putting it in the wrong place.”  
  
“The fuck?”  
  
“Look, OK. You throw a  _ baseball,  _ right? Great, nice, cool. You  _ could  _ be throwing fucking...oranges. Same way you throw knuckleballs. Don't exactly do any  _ good,  _ though, does it?”  
  
“Uh...it  _ would?  _ If I threw oranges at the right people?”  
  
“ _ Ugh.  _ You don't...wipe your ass with tissue paper.”  
  
“What's with all these  _ metaphors,  _ man? Seriously. Stop the fucking metaphors.”  
  
The two of them shared a quiet moment of burning eyeballs.  
  
“You're good at  _ hurting people _ ,” Akarsha said bluntly.  
  
“Fuck  _ yea,  _ I am.”  
  
“But that doesn't  _ actually  _ do any good. Just makes you look like an asshole. Makes  _ Diya  _ look like an  _ idiot  _ for dating you.”  
  
“Fuck  _ you,  _ man.”  
  
“Lemme  _ finish!  _ Damn.”  
  
“...Fine.”  
  
“Noelle  _ could  _ be using her brains for all  _ kinds  _ of things, but she's learning how to be a teacher. Right?”  
  
“Sure, whatever.”  
  
“Diya  _ could  _ be using all her muscles for literally  _ any  _ sport she wanted. She's playing baseball.”  
  
“I  _ said  _ no metaphors.”  
  
“These are fucking  _ facts,  _ bitch? OK?”  
  
“...”  
  
“As for me? I don't even  _ know,  _ all right? Straight up. I don't  _ know.  _ Jack of all trades, master of fucking none. So it's  _ not  _ like I don't understand. At least you're  _ cool,  _ at least people  _ listen  _ to you. People are  _ scared  _ of you, but they  _ like  _ you, anyway. You got... _ good  _ shit going for you, but you act all  _ dumb as a brick  _ with what you  _ do  _ with it. All this 'I hate the world, world's not fair, gender is bullshit,' like...you  _ realize  _ people are out there  _ doin'  _ something about that shit, right?”  
  
“Like punching Nazi's?”  
  
“I mean-...If you can get  _ paid  _ for it, and it's your  _ job,  _ hey, you do you. I'm trying to say that you got your skills like anyone else does, but you gotta find a way to  _ use  _ 'em where you're not...breaking rules and shit. Rules ain't always fair, but how can you do  _ anyone  _ any good when you're sittin' on your ass in jail? There's no rule that says you can't eat your opponent's cards in poker, but take it from me – you start eating people's cards and guess what? Ain't fucking playing  _ poker  _ anymore, are ya? N' then they're snitchin' on your ass, and now you gotta buy them a new deck of cards, and your  _ mom  _ is getting' all-...Fuck.”  
  
“Metaphor.”  
  
“Yea, I  _ got  _ it.”  
  
“The hell am I  _ supposed  _ to do with what I've got?”  
  
“All kindsa shit, man. Join the... _ army _ .”  
  
“ _ Fuckkkk  _ no!”  
  
“Be a  _ bouncer.  _ Security guard.”  
  
“I wanna play  _ baseball. _ ”  
  
“ _ Funny,  _ I  _ know  _ this  _ one  _ chick? Really tall? Fucking pretty?  _ Also doing that. _ ”  
  
“W-...Yea, and...like...-”  
  
“She's  _ deaf  _ in one ear and gets scared of the  _ stupidest shit,  _ but you don't see  _ that  _ stoppin' her. She's a warrior, dude. Same way  _ she  _ has to, like,  _ deal  _ with all of that scared, nervous, anxiety shit?  _ You  _ gotta, like, do the opposite. Keep the  _ **EDGELORD** _ contained.”  
  
Akarsha finally peeled off the lid to her ramen bowl entirely, crumpling it up and chucking it in the trash.  
  
“Fuckin'  _ A,  _ man, why ain't  _ Diya  _ tellin' you all this? Not  _ my  _ job...-”  
  
“Diya's too...-” Min dropped the rest of that sentence.  
  
“Yea, I  _ know _ ,” Akarsha spat in a grumble, stirring her ramen with a fork. “Look, dude, it's free advice.” She twirled a gob of noodles up and stuffed it in her cheek. “Tekk eht oh weef eht...” She chewed at her food with a scorned look.  
  
“Tryin' to take it,” Min replied tiredly, rolling up the pretzel bag.  
  
“Good. So.” Akarsha shrugged, stabbing her fork at some veggies and popping them in her big mouth. “Man, I  _ get  _ it, OK?” sighed Min, shoving the pretzel bag into the cupboard. “Yer all pissed at me 'cuz I let Diya down. I'm  _ trying  _ to make this all better.”  
  
“Min. Homie. Chum. Buddy.” Akarsha wrapped more noodles round her fork. “It ain't just  _ Diya,  _ dude. You let  _ us  _ down, too. You think we  _ like  _ seein' you behind bars like that? That we  _ like  _ not havin' you around for weeks on end?”  
  
“Bet Noelle didn't mind all that much...”  
  
“Dude.  _ Fuck  _ that, she  _ did  _ mind. The hell is  _ up  _ with that kinda shit?”   
  
“You serious?  _No_ way. Noelle'd never want-”  
“She  _cares_ about you, idiot. So do I.”  
  
“Well. Cool. That's-...Yea, I mean, that's, uh-...Cool.”  
  
“' _uhhhh I care about ya'll too I_ _**guess** _ _,'_ AWW that's sweet, Min, expressing feelings, how  _bold_ of you.”  
  
Min glared at Akarsha as a weird, sudden quiet came over them. Min felt uncomfortable at how long they stared at each other. She gave in, looking away.  
  
Min muttered with some defeat, “OK, yea, whatever, what  _you_ said.”  
  
Akarsha's whole entire  _vibe_ changed, like she was swapping out masks. She pounced at Min, putting one hand on Min's shoulder while noogying her with the other. Min flinched and tensed up, but with how late it was she knew shoving Akarsha around the kitchen might wake Diya up.  
  
So Min took it.  
  
A few seconds drowning in stupid affection felt like a small eternity. But Min endured.  
  
“ _Seeee?_ ” Akarsha chimed quietly, poking finger knife-guns at Min's chest. “Keepin' the EDGELORD contained...So proud o' you.”  
  
“We done?” said Min flatly, trying to hide how much she was actually loving  _human fucking interaction._   
  
“Well, so, that depends...” Akarsha flicked an alluring finger up to her lips, puckering them out and lowering her eyelids. “Is it too late to sneak in another ep of Game of Thrones?”  
  
_(ohhh hshittttwhheytywheehhh??)  
(that exists not-shitty-TV EXISTS)  
(nearly forgot)  
  
_ Min shrugged up one shoulder.  
  
“...Yea, sounds good.”  
  
“What season were you on, again?” Akarsha checked.  
  
“Dunno. Last thing I remember is some wedding or some shit that got really good outta nowhere.”  
  
“Heh.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> (This fic is still in production! I plan on continuing to write it into 2019, so stay tuned)
> 
> Thanks so much for giving this story a try!
> 
> You can check out this blog post if you want to know what stuff can help support my work.  
>  https://destiny-smasher.tumblr.com/post/184754205794/support
> 
> Thank you for all of your support, especially taking the time to read this!


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